Staking A Claim (Fraag)

The town was a bit of a dump if she was honest and as the bountiful maid walked down the bustling streets, her nose wrinkled with disgust. It smelled of seamen and fish, neither of which were appealing to the woman and as she rolled her eyes at the disgusting scent, she wished for nothing more than to take her axe and slaughter every fool she came across. This place was not fitting for her Mistress but orders were orders and Armina would follow them to the letter. She never could say no to her raven haired partner, something that had never changed over the long years that they had spent together. Still, she could not have been happier and had everything she could possibly want. A beautiful castle to live in, the most beautiful Mistress in the world and all the adventure and blood that she could possibly want. There was no downside and every day was like a dream for the purple haired warrior.

Well, that was not entirely true. For there was still the matter of her defeat at the hands of that little Fairy Tail scumbag. To have fallen in such a way in front of her Mistress had brought her a great amount of shame and having to go through the painful experience of resurrection had only made the ordeal worse. Immortality was a blessing and one that she certainly adored but that did not shield her from the pain of battle, especially when she was brought to death’s door. To those watching, it would just appear as though she would turn into a beam of light, disappear and reform again later but the truth was far more harrowing. The reformation of the body was hard enough but the toll it took on her mind was worse. She had been forced to relive the most painful moments of her life during the process and it had left her in a sour mood for quite some time. It was only thanks to her Mistress that she had been able to find herself again, with her gentle words and presence, among other things.

Her defeat to the Kensho boy had left her with a burning desire to prove herself to the woman who meant most to her and that more than anything was why she had agreed to today’s mission. Armina wished to show that she was able to defend her closest friend and fulfil the duty that she had performed since before they had even come to Earthland, before they had descended from the stars. Of course, her Mistress had not uttered one word of disappointment to her regarding her defeat, instead only encouraging her to grow in strength but Armina felt shame nonetheless. To lose to a mortal was insulting and the fact that he had been a male was ten times worse.

As she headed towards the large building that seemed to rise above the rest of the town, Armina occasionally felt eyes upon her. It was only natural and Armina actually smiled as she heard one particular woman give her date a firm slap for taking his eyes away from her. Men were pigs and they deserved whatever they got. Fortunately for them, not one of the moronic mortals approached her, the enormous axe attached to her back more than enough to keep them in check. It would not take much for her to start swinging either, such was her way, once the adrenaline started flowing. Her maid-like appearance was only skin deep and behind that facade lay a monster, one who had as many lives on her conscience as her Mistress did although they were hardly a burden. Ending a mortal’s life meant as much to her as ending a wild animal’s. Nothing.

Her destination was a lovely looking cathedral that the people of the town seemed to adore and even the angel had to chuckle at the sight of it. A rather unusual take, being rather gothic in nature but it certainly appealed to her and more importantly, appealed to her Mistress. Generally, the two of them would destroy any building that held the faintest taint of religion but there was something about this cathedral that was different. It was an oddity and one that could be used as a shrine for her Mistress, unlike the usual disgusting cathedrals which reeked of holy light. Armina knew of the creatures that mortals worshipped and they were not the holy and kind beings that they were made out to be. They were monsters, betrayers of their own race and in the end, they had been betrayed in turn by her Mistress.

There were mortals coming and going all the time but as she approached the enormous building, her eyes fell upon two sword wielding men who swiftly approached her. They had symbols on their armour which she assumed meant that they were guards of some kind, resulting in a roll of the eyes from the busty bombshell. As if they had the slightest hope of harming her.

“I am sorry but you will have to hand over your axe if you wish to enter, Miss.” The larger of the guard said sternly, a tall figure indeed, standing at around six foot six with short brown hair. He was a fairly aged male and had no doubt seen his fair share of combat. “Due to the war and increase in trouble, we are tightening our defences. I am sure that you understand.”

“You will have to turn around otherwise.” The second guard added, a short fellow, with long blonde hair and a far younger complexion. He looked little more than a boy in truth and cearly inexperienced.

“I will do no such thing and if you attempt to take my axe by force then I will feed you your own limbs.” Armina replied with a smile, her right hand moving around to draw her weapon. “Actually, forget that, I will do it regardless of your actions. This cathedral now belongs to my Mistress and I will slaughter everyone inside it to add a little bit of colour.”

The younger guard drew his sword and moved in to attack but Armina was far faster and with one mighty swing from her weapon, she cut straight through him in a massive arc, killing him before he hit the ground. A display of force that would set the tone for what was to come. The older guard was more cautious in his advance, as he slowly walked down the stairs towards her but it made little difference, as she summoned a chain with her left hand and launched it in his direction, catching him off guard. The piece of metal would wrap around his leg, allowing Armina to pull him down the stairs, before delivering a brutal finisher with her axe.

“Well, that was fun.” Armina laughed, before making her way up the stairs and entering the cathedral.

(1161 Words)

Port towns meant a good deal of maritime trade, and Cedar was no exception. The docks, as it was expected, were one of the busiest, if not the busiest, areas of town, and everything there seemed to be moving at a hurried frenzy bordering on ill temper. Even the sea gulls. Well, sailors were not known to be the most cordial of people, but like all humans, they did have their merits. For instance, they did seem to have a lot of stories in their lore-related arsenals, and even though many people believed that sailors often told tall tales, in a world such as Earthland where the freakish existed side by side with the mundane, there was to be some degree of truth in many of the weird stories that were recounted. And all things living knew that there were few weirder places to look than atop and beneath the untamed waves of the high seas, a domain that sailors were, to some extent, very conversant with. And so Nita had come to the docks to talk with the sailors there, and liven up the place as she knew how to. She had been impressed. Sailors would always be sailors, but these fellows did seem to be quite a cut above the average foul-mouthed, swearing bilge rat. Maybe it was because their captain was present, and they somehow were expected to be in their best behavior when he was out and about, Nita did not know, but even with their attempts at flirting with her, they did seem to be gentlemen.
But even though the young Pergrandian was not averse to the attention, she had not come here to flirt. Ever so recently, a strange item had come into her possession. The Matiasma, it was called. The person who had given it to her had spoken of it ever so contradictorily, describing it as a cursed item one moment, and then extoling its virtues the next. As someone who was quite interested in ancient artifacts and the lore surrounding them, Nita had been willing to buy it from him. After all, she had just recently gained the powers of the Night God Slayer, and from a stone whose previous owner had vehemently claimed to be cursed, no less. What were one or two curses then? Even if the item bore some kind of curse, Nita was sure she could exorcise it, thanks to her divine magic. But then things had taken an interesting turn.

Nita had taken the Matiasma, a strange but elegant necklace, and had gazed almost mesmerized into the eye-like gem it bore. But when she looked up, the man who had given her the necklace was nowhere to be found. Her magic sense, enhanced by her Aspect of Knowledge, had not determined that any magic signatures had suddenly disappeared, hence the fellow had not teleported. But despite the fact that the area was not very crowded, the man seemed to have vanished into thin air. Nita had never seen him again. But the stories he had told had stuck with her; they were so well told that she had assumed that this fellow was some sort of wandering entertainer. Some days later, while idly reading news on the iLac channels, Nita had seen a story in the Readers’ section, which had talked about the poster meeting a weird old witch who had tried to sell him a cursed necklace. The story he gave was exactly the same event as Nita’s except for one thing: in Nita’s case, the person who had the necklace was a middle-aged stranger; Nita would have guessed he was probably from Caelum from his accent. However, in the poster’s story, the necklace peddler was an old Desiertian witch. How could these stories be so identical (not similar), but be told by different people? Maybe there was more than one such item in the world. For lack of anything to do, Nita decided to try to track the origin of this weird tale and the Matiasma, though she suspected that, given the powers this necklace possessed, she would meet a dead end. Still, she had few things to occupy her mind with, and the war and its news were so dismal, and seemed to be all that everyone wanted to talk about. Since she didn’t particularly feel up for a mission, Nita decided to give herself this assignment, just to take her mind off things.

Her sleuthing had brought her to Cedar, and according to correspondence with the iLac poster, she had made her way to the Cedar docks, where he had said he had been accosted by the witch. And despite the fact that the old woman’s description was so striking that anyone who simply looked once at her would remember that he had seen a strange old Desiertian woman (according to the iLac poster), nobody seemed to have seen the old woman at the docks. Weird, but not altogether unexpected. Having satisfied her curiosity (not so much), Nita decided to sightsee in the town before returning home, just to try to relax. The cathedral of Cedar was the most famous structure in town, so maybe she would go and have a look at it. She wondered to whom or what the temple was dedicated to. Arcanos, maybe? It would be nice to see a temple dedicated to her patron deity in Fiore. As the light mage walked towards the cathedral, she felt her phone vibrate. Pulling it out, she saw breaking news jumping up on every news channel: someone had attacked and killed the two guards outside the cathedral with an axe. Some people had even uploaded the gruesome footage. Nita’s heart sank. Why did people have to be like this? In any case, she knew what needed to be done. Justice needed service.

One moment the blonde mage was standing in the street staring at her phone, the next she was gone. The people outside the cathedral would see a young woman appear out of thin air in front of the cathedral, and warily climb the stairs to the majestic building. Nita was glad for being the Night God Slayer, because this allowed her to carry her complete arsenal everywhere with her, by placing hexes on them which transformed them into more portable objects. However, what she wanted to use was already very portable in its own right. She reached for one of earrings on her left ear which had a white feather on it, and pulled the feather off as she whispered, ”Pegasus”, the item immediately transforming into a beautiful long spear and a shield. She took a quick look around. She wasn’t really dressed for battle, being clad in a simple but chic minidress and wedge heels. But the skirt was flared enough to allow for ease of movement, so it would have to do. The guards were well and truly dead; there was nothing that could be done for them. However, she could save more lives from being lost. Kicking open the cathedral doors, Nita, in not up to a second, took aim at the beautiful woman with the huge axe, and flung her spear, activating the Homing Pidgeon ability, which would make the thrown weapon chase its target. The goal was not a killing strike, though, but to knock the weapon out of the woman’s hands.

”Please tell me I’m not on a live show of Mad Maids from Minstrel….”


WC: 1243
TWC: 2404

@Medeia

To be fair, the inside of the cathedral was rather nice and Armina certainly approved of the motive. Errings Rising’s castle was not actually all that different and the busty maid felt rather at home already. It was going to take a lot of spring cleaning in order to have it meet her Mistress's high standards but the purple haired maid knew that she could do the job. For now though, there was the matter of clearing out the rubbish that littered the building or in other words the guards. The place was rather filled with them and the axe wielding woman knew that she would most definitely have plenty of work to do. Fortunately, her axe was crying out for blood after her scuffle outside and already the tall angel was beginning to feel her pulse quicken. Her Mistress always described her as maniac once she got started and it was a rather apt description. She was the brawn to her Mistress’s brains and magical power. Yet, it was the fact that she had a point to prove which stirred her on even more so today and gave her that extra spark. One that she would unleash upon everyone who tried to get in her way.

Already some of the worshippers had fled the building, having heard the commotion and wanting no part of Armina’s axe. The people who managed to get past her were the lucky ones and she made no real effort to go after them. They would no doubt spread the news of what was happening, which would only harness her reputation among the pitiful mortals. Those inside, however, would not be so fortunate and it was not all that long before she was lining up her next targets. The guards were all over the place, seeming to be unprepared for someone of her level and the maid could not help but roll her eyes. If these peons could not even defend a cathedral then what hope did they have of winning a war? Her Mistress had fought for Pergrande on two occasions and had dealt crippling blows against the Bellum scum each time, having even had the Cardinal Of Peace lying at her feet at one point. Fiore and Bellum were doomed in the eyes of the maid although she did not truly care that much. Civilisations came and went but she and her Mistress would live forever.

Unfortunately for her, before she could actually begin her massacring of the peons, her senses were suddenly captured by a weapon, hurled in her direction. It was fortunate that Armina was already on high alert and as she turned to face her attacker, she would raise a hand and create a dome of magical energy around herself, shielding her from the spear that had launched at her. An impressive weapon indeed and the purple haired woman noted the force that was behind the attack. The owner had to be strong and Armina pondered just how well she would do against her foe. Her loss to that brat Kensho came flying back to her, inserting itself in the forefront of her mind, resulting in the maid taking a firmer grasp of her axe. The next time she saw him, she was going to bury him, along with everyone else in his pathetic little guild. Perhaps then she would be satisfied but today, she could at least start on her path of retribution against whoever her attacker was.

A lovely blonde woman stood before her, resulting in Armina tilting her head to the site for a moment, looking over the beautiful lady in a very similar way to her Mistress. “Oh no, this is not a TV show and my axe is certainly no prop. Just ask the guards outside who have felt her wrath. Oh wait, you cannot. Oops.” Her tone was rather light and cheerful considering the circumstances and a chuckle escaped her lips. “It is rather rude to attack someone without an introduction or warning, you know, I truly should punish you for that. You are lovely on the eyes though so perhaps a spanking will do instead. I would hate to do you any real harm as I am sure that my Mistress will adore you as well when she arrives. Perhaps we will whisk you off to our guild hall and have our fun with you.” She sounded whimsical but there was a look in the maid’s eyes that gave off the impression that she was serious.

Channelling both the powers of her axe and outfit, Armina would start to glow with a magical light, increasing her physical strength by several times. Few would say that she was the most wily or cunning of fighters but her raw strength was enough to cut the stoutest foe in two. Her Mistress had put her through a hellish training regime, one that would most likely be considered cruel by most but it had actually been done out of love. Not only that but Armina seemed to enjoy any experience that was considered hellish. She was a twisted soul, one that was so deeply entwined with her Mistress’s that they were more than just Mistress and maid. Closer than lovers or family. They were always together, regardless of geographical distance and adored each other beyond all measure.

“I suppose that I should knock you out before she gets here though. My job is to take out the trash beforehand you see and I cannot do that if you are going to get in the way. I would ask you to submit to me but given how eager you were to throw your spear at me, I guess you want to fight as much as I do. That suits me just fine.”

In an oddly timed display of etiquette, she would then deliver a rather maidly curtsy, before introducing herself. “I am Armina, loyal maid of Errings Rising and to my Mistress, the most powerful dark mage who walks these lands. A pleasure to meet you, Miss…?”

(1009 WC)
(3413 TWC)

There was a certain way that the woman in the maid outfit looked at her that reminded her of a certain someone. A certain someone that Nita wasn’t so sure she would be pleased to come in contact with once again. In any case, the flippancy with which the bloodthirsty maid dismissed the deaths of the guards on the steps of the cathedral was annoying to the Pergrandian. Why was it that such people had absolutely no regard for the lives which they so carelessly took? Nita was of the opinion that a thing which could not be easily acquired was meant to not be discarded so easily. But that was the way of those who Nita was sworn to fight against. She was yet to find a dark mage who did not assume that they had all the right in the world to do whatever they pleased simply because they possessed power. And most times, when she tried to confront them with this flawed way of thinking, all she got for it was their disdain for the concepts of good and evil, or law, or whatever it was that stood against their indiscriminate marauding. In the end, people would simply do what suited them.

At the maid’s words regarding the poor etiquette of attacking people without giving introductions or warnings, Nita simply raised an eyebrow. She wondered whether the guards outside had been treated with any form of courtesy before their blood had been made to stain the marble stairs of the building. But for a moment, Nita allowed herself to focus on this woman’s words. There was something all too familiar about them. It was almost as if she was meeting another version of the woman she considered her personal nemesis, the dark mage Medeia. It was very likely that the mistress of whom the maid had spoken was none other than the dark haired angel that had had her paths cross with Nita’s a couple of times. The last time they had met, Nita had been forced to kill someone; her first kill for that matter. She had Medeia to ‘thank’ for that, and unlike the last time they had met, when Nita had still tried, in her usual jovial manner, to be somewhat cordial with Medeia, the Pergrandian mage was not sure that she would be as warm as last time if she met Medeia today. No, it was more likely when, rather than if. Unless this mistress was not Medeia. That would be a pleasant surprise.

Nita watched silently, her shield and spear at the ready, as the woman in the maid outfit cast some strange enchantment and began to glow. It was likely some spell to up her combat prowess. ”Well, being someone quite enamored with peace, I would have considered your offer of spanking, if you assured me that you would be gentle, but I’m afraid I am not the one going to be spanked today,” the Luminous Rose mage said calmly, retaining a slightly relaxed, but alert stance with her spear and shield ready to be whipped up and used for offense and defense where and when necessary. ”I would rather sit and talk over a cup of coffee or something than fight...” okay, that wasn’t always true, and Nita had the entity trapped inside her to thank for that, ”but I don’t seem to have any other course of action when facing someone who sees a holy building and starts slaughtering people on its grounds. I’m glad my intent for battle suits you just fine, because I plan on giving you a good workout. But before I introduce myself, I have an issue with your job regarding taking out the trash….”

Nita struck the butt of her spear on the floor of the cathedral, as she activated her Relativity God Blink spell. The ground seemed to ripple, and all the people in the cathedral watching the exchange between the two women with apprehension and fear would suddenly find themselves outside the cathedral, and some good ways away from it. The maid herself would simply see them there one moment, and the cathedral would be empty the next. Nita hoped that the people who had been previously in the building would sense the threat involved and not try to enter the building, but sometimes, some people seemed rather obtuse when it came to matters of their own safety. It was unfair on heroes to put one’s self in danger and expect that the hero would save you. Well, the best thing was to try to save as many people as she could. Emptying the cathedral of the people inside it helped Nita in two ways: first, she had to worry less about innocents getting caught in the line of fire, and secondly, the bloody maid would not be able to use any hapless bystander as a sort of hostage or meat shield.

”That solves your ‘taking out the trash’ job, doesn’t it?” Nita asked, before she did a curtsey of her own. ”Ms. Fortune, at your service but I’m sure your mistress already knows who I am. And the service to be rendered is a summary butt kicking, delivered courtesy of my heels on your bum bum. En garde!” There was no time to waste, and truly, if Nita had any hope that she could talk Armina out of this bloody madness, she would have enthusiastically attempted to talk the maid onto the path of peace. The best thing to do now would be to try to take her out as quickly as possible, before her mistress came. Because that would be a whole new amount of trouble. Nita threw her spear at Armina, although her aim was not at any critical point on the maid’s body; the actual purpose of throwing her spear was to make the maid attempt to parry it or dodge it. Because immediately the spear was thrown, Nita would use her Blink spell again to close the distance between the two women, ducking and lashing out her feet in an attempt to sweep the maid to the ground. Whatever happened with her spear, Nita was not too worried: Pegasus could float and respond to her thoughts. A truly versatile weapon it was.


WC: 1045
TWC: 4458

@Medeia

This mage had a quirky sense of humour and Armina found it rather appealing in truth. She spoke of matters such as spanking with such levity which actually reminded the maid of her Mistress in some respects. There was a matter of factness to this lovely blonde haired woman’s words and Armina could respect that. Generally, she was the same way and unlike her Mistress, who loved to talk, the maid was far more eager to just get to the matter at hand. Naturally, she did not consider her opponents' words about her attacking a holy building to mean a great deal and she found it rather funny that she was being lectured about such a thing. There were few who knew more about holiness than Armina did and the entity that the fools here worshipped was certainly not that. The dreams that mortals had of angels and gods was an illusion, one that priests and such hypocrites loved to create. The only real holy being was her Mistress and she was certainly no saint, at least not by the mortal meaning of the word.

As the blonde woman tapped into her magic, Armina naturally brought her axe up in a defensive position but to her surprise, there was no attack and instead the people around them vanished into what seemed to be thin air. An unexpected manoeuvre and a part of the maid was rather annoyed by the move. She had been looking forward to taking out the guards and now that pleasure had been robbed from her. It was irritating to say the least and she was going to have to try far harder now to give her Mistress the bloody scenery that she had promised upon her arrival. “I was looking forward to clearing out the place myself,” she uttered with a slight pouting expression, “Now I am going to have to find another way to decorate the place. I cannot afford to disappoint my Mistress, after all.”

Her unhappiness did not last too long though and her spirits were lifted as her foe responded favourably to a fight, as well as introducing herself. If this woman could back up her talk then perhaps defeating her and giving the blonde bombshell to her maid’s Mistress as a gift would be enough to satisfy the raven haired woman. She knew the Warlord better than anyone but it was sometimes difficult to tell how she would react to a result that she did not want. Her fellow angel had incredibly high standards and failure was rarely acceptable although the maid knew that she had more leeway than most. The worst that would probably happen is that she would spend some time bound in her Mistress’s clutches which to the dirty mind maid, was hardly a punishment at all in truth. When she thought about it, the situation she was in was a win either way. Win and she would prove herself, lose and she would find herself wrapped up again. There was a tiny amount of doubt about that though, knowing that if she ended up having to go through the resurrection process again then it would be anything but a win. Better to just win the fight and avoid any chance of that happening.

The name Ms. Fortune did cause an eyebrow to rise though and the maid spent a moment racking her brains. Her Mistress was fond of telling her stories about her solo adventures and the name sounded rather familiar to her. Had this lovely woman perhaps been one of her Mistress’s conquests in the past? With her adrenaline rising and the fight about to start, it was difficult for her to truly focus on anything other than her desire to defeat her opponent. Killing the guards had given her the taste for blood and it was sending waves of pleasure through her body. It was both a strength and a curse. She had lost to Kensho due to her bloodlust and even though that very thought was in her mind, her war like nature was shutting it out.

There was no time for any further words anyway as Ms.Fortune threw her spear again in the maid's direction. She was ready for it and brought up her large axe, swatting the rather exotic weapon away with a massive swing from her weapon. The two collided with a loud bang and for a moment, she thought that her axe was damaged but fortunately for her, that was not the case. It was a sturdy war device and one that had carried her through many fights in her long life. She did notice the magical power behind her foe’s attack though and it felt rather potent to say the least. This woman was by no means weak and Armina already knew that she would be in for a tough battle.

The spear throw was not the end of the blonde’s attack either and Armina briefly lost sight of her foe, before suddenly detecting her close to her. Ms.Fortune had gone low, trying to sweep her legs out from under her, forcing the maid to have to jump over it. Her reflexes were razor sharp but the speed of her foe was a concern. A normal mage did not move that fast and the purple haired woman’s smile briefly faded. Still, there was nothing she could do about it and she was not about to just lie down just because her opponent was tough. “When you said that you wanted to kick my rear, you were not joking.” She said matter of factly.

Using the momentum of her jump to her advantage, Armina would charge her axe and unleash a nasty two handed strike downwards, trying to bring it down on her opponent from above. It appeared that her enemy had the speed advantage but the maid could not help but think that perhaps in terms of physicality, maybe it was she who had that advantage. Keeping Ms.Fortune close just might be her best option and well worth a try. Allowing her berserker rage to start to build, she would attempt to keep the distance to a minimum, delivering strike after strike, attempting to overwhelm and swarm her beautiful opponent. Her eyes started to glow due to it and she asked. “I swear that I have heard your name before. Have you found yourself in the arms of my Mistress perhaps? Her name is Medeia and she spends quite a lot of time chasing women.”

(1086 Words)
(5544 TWC)

It seemed the maid was none too pleased with Nita’s action of teleporting the guards in the cathedral out of it. Apparently she had been looking forward to killing more people. In that regard, Nita was glad to have foiled her designs. It still did not appear as a seamless victory, seeing as there were two corpses outside that had not been as lucky as the other guards in the building. Unfortunately, there would always be those apathetic to human suffering and death, shrugging off the gravity of the guards’ deaths with dismissive statements like ‘they were unimportant anyway’, or the more fatalistic ‘it was their time; they were meant to die’. Nita did not particularly like such people. But those she liked less were the ones that caused such suffering and death, and were glad to do so. Like Armina, standing here before her. Sadly, Nita was too jocular for her own good. But that didn’t mean she would not attempt to bring this murderer to justice. Sometimes it almost seemed like a sport, the tussle between good and evil. But it was all fun and games until lives started being lost. Nita wondered whether she was supposed to face the maid with more severity. Other heroes likely would. But Nita was Nita, and that meant she could not be expected to do things the way everyone else was doing them. ”Well, you could always get a load of paint glitter. And paper rings, and streamers. Oh, and confetti. I’m you’re your mistress would applaud you,” Nita answered in response to her complaint.

It seemed there was some hint of recognition when Nita introduced herself, judging by Armina’s response, although it seemed as though the name could not be placed precisely in the maid’s memory. To Nita, it didn’t matter. She was sure that Armina would remember her if they met again in the future, if the Pergrandian had a say in how things were going to turn out in this battle. In any case, the first exchange of battle was made, and Nita noted to herself, based on Armina’s reaction to her attack, that her opponent was skilled enough to be considered with some degree of caution. Normally, it was not in Nita’s nature to look down on her opponents; it usually occurred that she was the one who was often looked down on. And in some respects, that suited her just fine. There were few things more satisfying than having someone laugh at you or berate your capabilities moments before being bitch slapped into next week. Nita was confident of her fighting ability, enough to not be afraid while facing Armina. She was likely stronger than her opponent. But she was not going to assume that because she was, she would not take precautions. All the same, Nita was interested in coming out on top in this scuffle. She had a reputation to maintain, as well as lives to protect. What good was a hero who people could not trust to save them when she arrived?

Having successfully evaded the sweeping kick, Armina made an attack of her own. Nita saw the huge axe head descending towards her, and raised her shield to parry it, slipping backwards as she did while deflecting the weapon to her left, so that it would still remain outside of her shield. Deflecting it to the right would mean that if Armina decided to swing horizontally after having the attack deflected, Nita would have a hairy situation to deal with, since the Pergrandian carried the Pegasus shield on her left arm. ”Oh my, whatever made you think I was being funny?” Nita asked, in response to Armina’s statement of fact about Nita’s intentions for her backside. The maid then proceeded to go on the offensive, swinging the dangerous weapon at the blonde mage repeatedly. Nita defended herself with the shield adequately, dodging where she had the chance and parrying when she couldn’t. ”For shame. And here I was, thinking you had said you were going to spank me. Instead, you seem to be trying to shorten my height, which I shall take great umbrage at, if you please,” the Night God slayer jested, as she responded to Armina’s attacks. It was Nita’s way, to keep talking when she was in battle. Somehow it helped her remain calm, reducing tension that could otherwise cause her to make a mistake. And in battle, a mistake was the difference between being able to go home and have a good night’s rest, and having a permanent eternal rest. She did not yet feel ready for the latter.

Armina’s latest words confirmed Nita’s suspicion. She was a vassal of Medeia. This would probably not end as quickly as the Pergrandian had hoped. In a way, her interactions with Medeia were an indication of how much she had grown. When she had first met the dark angel, Nita was more or less at her mercy, practically begging the Warlord to not attack innocents, and escaping with a memory that made her blush whenever she remembered it. The last time she had met Medeia, Nita had realized, even though she had not been completely pleased with the conclusion of her meeting with the dark angel, that perhaps she was not as completely at Medeia’s mercy as she had imagined. Now, who knew how things would turn? Nita had discovered two new magics, and she was sure that they had made her much stronger. Still she suspected that Medeia would be still a match for her, if not even more. ”I thought as much,” the Pergrandian said, not hiding the displeasure in her voice. ”She’s one of the only few people crazy enough to go attacking public places with reckless abandon… or in today’s iteration, sending her minions to do the task for her. As to whether I’ve found myself in the arms of your mistress, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Like I was trying to kill myself and she was trying to kill me or something.” Well, technically, Medeia hadn’t tried to kill her. It was that huge brute of a wrestler that had smacked her through the floor and on top of Medeia’s dinner. To be fair, Nita had been to blame for that. But she had seen no other way to escape what would otherwise have been a very awkward memory for her, if she had not sought to free herself. Simply remembering how she was tied was quite embarrassing.

Without making any evident gesture, Nita commanded her spear to return again, the shafted weapon flying towards the axe-wielding maid once more. It came just out of the corner of her vision, because Nita wanted her to be aware of the impending attack and respond to it. Nita’s plan was to go for her axe, whether Armina dodged or blocked the spear, and attempt to grab the long shaft of the weapon, while trying to plant a knee in her opponent’s stomach in tandem. If she could disarm the maid, the battle would be much more skewed in her favor.


WC: 1183
TWC: 6727

A laugh escaped the maid as she listened to Ms.Fortune’s witty reply to her comment about spanking. This woman did have a great sense of humour and even as bloodlusty as she was, Armina could not help but briefly smile wildly. The blonde woman was awfully good with her shield and the purple haired warrior was unable to break through although she reckoned that her aggressive display was enough to at least give her opponent something to think about. Oh, how she loved being on the front foot which was a scenario that she was rarely in when she was around her Mistress. The raven haired woman was adamant about who was in control in any situation and while Armina adored being her Mistress’s submissive, she had to admit that it felt great to just cut loose from time to time. “Maybe I plan on spanking you with the back of my axe rather than my hand?” She uttered with a rather dark smile. “I was not joking, you know, this could have all ended peacefully if you had just let me slap that lovely rear of yours. You are a beautiful woman and I know that when my Mistress catches sight of you, she will desire to do the same thing.” That was a gross understatement.

A statement which was proven to be true when Ms.Fortune admitted that she had indeed met the Warlord. Her smile widened considerably as that information registered with her although she did tilt her head at the woman’s words. “She tried to kill you? That does not sound like her. The most she would have done is fly off with you and have a little fun in her quarters. You must have truly angered her if she reacted to you violently. Perhaps you said no to her offer? If so, that would make more sense. If there is one thing I have learned about Medeia, it is that she never takes no for an answer. Believe me, I have tried and it has got me absolutely anywhere. Not that I am complaining, mind you, I adore being at her side and am perfectly safe with her.” Her tone of voice was almost to the point of worship, gushing about the woman closest to her without the slightest attempt at restraint. In a way, she was the antithesis of her Mistress but that only made their bond stronger.

Seemingly even for the moment, Armina was able to just about catch the spear that was once more heading in her direction. It was a rather cunning attack, one that was only just in her eyeline and the maid had to be rather swift in order to bring her axe around and again bat it away. That flying weapon was beginning to become a nuisance in truth and the purple haired brute knew that she was going to have to keep on her toes if she wanted to avoid feeling its sting. As it was, she deflected the weapon quite well this time, more effectively than the first and she was confident that with practice, she would be able to get the timing down perfectly.

It appeared that Ms.Fortune was not finished though and the maid felt a grip on her axe, followed by an unpleasantly sharp knee in her stomach. The blow knocked the wind out of her and sent her weapon dropping to the ground with an ominously loud bang but she did not fall. Oh no, she was made of sterner stuff than that and although she backed up a few paces, the smile from before was still on her face. “Heh. Nice move but do not think that one kick to the midsection is going to finish me off. I would not be able to look Medeia in the eye if I did.”

Summoning chains from both arms, the maid would swing them in completely different directions. One was directed towards the blonde, with the aim being to either ensnare or disarm her, while the other travelled over towards Armina’s axe, the idea being to retrieve it and return it to her hand. Double trouble and giving her opponent something to react to. She had been knocked back a bit but she was hardly out for the count and the maid was desperate to last as long as she could. Honestly, there was not a whole lot of fear in her at this point, her love of battle and carnage burning that away, as well as the knowledge that should she take serious damage, her Mistress would no doubt respond to it. There were few things that could truly upset her beautiful Queen but seeing Armina injured was most definitely one of those and she would forgo her usual methodical pace if she detected her maid in peril.

As her chains flew around, she would speak once more. “I kind of remember the story I was told now. Mistress said that you interfered with a mission of hers where she had teamed up with a pair of beautiful lucha libre types. I confess that I was saddened that I did not get to meet the lovely duo, as Medeia did say that they were both simply gorgeous. If I recall correctly, you got a little trigger happy and killed one of them. I have to say that I am shocked that you could do such a thing, being a do gooder as you are. Mistress also said that she had to spend that entire night comforting the blonde woman…Maxima, I think her name was? Turns out she had a crush on the woman you killed and she was torn apart seeing her die like that. Your actions ripped her heart in two. Poor girl.” It was both an attempt to rattle her opponent, as well as an opportunity to learn more about her blonde haired foe. Her curiosity had been aroused and while she could just ask Medeia later, she knew that her Mistress had a way of distorting the truth sometimes. Better that the maid find out for herself.

(1017 Words)
(7744 TWC)

Nita was sure that Armina was not being exactly honest when she said that they wouldn’t have been fighting if she had been allowed to only spank the Pergrandian mage. The reason for this was the growing understanding that the blood thirsty maid was very much like her mistress in behavior, although she did seem a lot more interested in shedding blood than Medeia did. As far as being ever so crafty with the use of guile and slippery words, they were very much alike. Nita was sure that if she had allowed Armina to do whatever the latter wanted, she would still find herself on the short end of the stick, as far as bargaining went. It was in times such as this that power mattered. Because in the end, things would simply devolve to the winner being whoever was more forceful in exerting their will; such was the state of the world. Looking at things from a detached perspective, as long as people who abused their power existed, humanity would be no better than animals, because the idea that might made right was merely an excuse for those who were greedy to take what they wanted from those who had such, and not expect to be called to account for this.

From the maid’s words, it was very clear that she did know a great deal about her mistress. That she showed surprise at Nita’s statement about Medeia trying to kill her was proof of this. ”Well, kudos to you for being perfectly safe with your mistress,” Nita replied. ”I’m quite certain that the same does not apply to me. And I think that’s where Medeia and myself seem to really get off on the wrong foot. You see, I was never game for such forceful wooing. Other girls might see it as romantic, but me? It’s going to be a whole deal of scratching and kicking.” As far as ‘scratching and kicking’ were concerned, Nita felt she had learned how to scratch better. But in the end, one’s personal assumption could not be taken for fact, until it had been tried. If and when the dark angel came, Nita would just have to see how well she did facing off against her. The thought of crossing figurative blades with the dark angel was both worrying and exciting. Worrying, because Nita was not sure she had yet seen Medeia fighting at full power. Exciting, because she was Nita, and Nita was all for kicking ass and taking names. She had taken Armina’s name. All that was left was to kick ass.

As the maid summoned chains from her hands, Nita took note of the trajectory of both magical constructs in a single moment. One was aimed at her, no doubt meant to restrain her, or at least limit her movement. The other, however, was going in the direction of the maid’s axe. An interesting plan, if Nita were to give her opinion on it. However, Armina would need more to be able to deal decisively with the Pergrandian. That axe was annoying, though, and whatever Nita had in mind, Armina getting possession of the bloody weapon was not part of it. Nita however was not particularly expecting the mind games. For Armina to remind her of her execution of the luchadora named Veles was touching on dangerous waters. Even though she had felt it necessary to kill the crazed villainess, taking of lives was something she did not do with glee, as people like Armina or Medeia did, or even with casual indifference. There were a good number of people on the side of the light, who did not care if they killed a walker in darkness. Nita did. Death was always for her a last resort. Funny that, if she chose to believe what Armina was saying, it was somehow her fault that Maxima had been so brokenhearted. What of those who Veles would have killed? Did no one care about their loved ones? It was for such nameless people that Nita struggled to be as strong as she possibly could, so that such ‘inconsequential’ people could grow old and see their children age and do well in life. Those that were of no consequence to the greater powers, surely, even they had some worth. And so, for the sakes of those people, despite Armina’s words, she would try to remember the gratitude she had seen in the eyes of the people she had saved that night.

And still, something about the maid’s words unhinged Nita. Maybe it was the fact that the Pergrandian had stubbornly refused to think about the events that night, and had been suddenly reminded of them today. Or maybe it was the fact that being ‘trigger happy’ suggested that she had wanted to kill Veles, which could not be further from the truth, and that had really irked her. But whatever it was, Armina would feel it. Like something had changed in Nita’s general bearing, the way she carried herself. Twisting to one side to avoid the chain sent her way, the light mage called the Pegasus to her right hand, and thrust at Armina. And this was a stroke meant to potentially kill if it hit. From the movement of the blonde mage, to the way she had positioned her spear just before she lunged, these were no longer the moves of a well-trained but flighty young warrior. These were the moves of a predator.

”Armina darling, be so kind as to watch your tongue,” the Luminous Rose mage drawled, a dark look in her eyes and an ominous smile on her lips. It was Maria in charge now. Even though the form and voice were Nita’s, it was clear that a stranger had taken over her body. ”I’m not as desirous of hugs and kisses as dear Nita is. And I believe I should correct you on one little thing. You should not be shocked that do-gooders kill the baddies. In fact, do-gooders are meant to kill every baddie they come across. It would be equivalent to cosmic community service. How did you so astutely render it? Ah yes, ‘taking out the trash’. It’s funny how you bad lot kill people without compunctions and feel no remorse, but get annoyed or sad when someone kills one of your kind, as if you’re the only ones that matter. But please, don’t let me go on yammering away; you seem to be quite an interesting person to converse with. In any regard, I am afraid we shall not be conversing for long.”


WC: 1100
TWC: 8844

It was difficult for the busty maid to keep another smile from crossing her face as Ms. Fortune spoke about how she and Medeia had gotten off to a rough start. “I confess that she has a habit of coming on strongly when she finds someone that she truly takes a liking for. Once she sets her sights on someone then she will not stop until she has them in her arms. You should consider yourself lucky that she did not take you by force as it would not be the first time that she has done such things. It must happen two or three times a week these days and why does she do it? She knows that no one can do a single thing about it, that is why. So confident is she that she actually lets them go once she is done with them. You must have made quite a deal with her to have not been swiped by her. What was it? Did you agree to have a snuggle with her on a bench or something?” Her tone was teasing in nature, amusing herself by trying to unsettle her opponent.

Her chain attack might not have been successful but she was able to at least get her axe back, the large weapon returning to her dominant hand. She adored her axe and the thought of being kept apart from it was a rather alarming one. Oh, she had the physical strength to fight hand to hand and could overwhelm your standard human with a punch but the purple haired woman knew that Ms.Fortune was far too stout a foe for that. She was starting to get a read of her opponent's magical signature now and its potency was enough to rattle her a little. This woman was not a weakling at all and the maid was unsure if she stood an honest chance of victory but that was not the point. The goal was to fight with all her heart and soul, knowing that even a defeat would only stir her into training harder. Death was impossible for a being such a her. Defeat, yes but not destruction. Her immortality was both a gift and curse, with her believing in each at different times in her long life. Today’s fight would just be another entry to her enormously long diary.

There was a noticeable change in the body language of her foe after she mentioned the story that Medeia had told her, resulting in the maid taking a firmer grip of her axe. There was something unusual going on and Armina was not entirely sure that she liked it. Her opponent had seemed to have lost control, her expression becoming more ominous and twisted. Apparently her words had hit home and after a few moments of doubt, the bloodthirsty smile would return to the maid’s face, overcoming her doubt and worry, knowing that her Mistress was near. She honed her focus intently on the blonde warrior, waiting for her next move, axe ready and willing to move at a moment’s notice.

Ms. Fortune would then lunge towards her, spear filled with a killing intent that had not been there before, forcing Armina to move incredibly quickly in order to defend herself. The two powerful weapons clanged loudly as they met, sending sparks all over the place and the bountiful maid was forced back by the blow. She was not harmed but the power behind that blow had been something else compared to her foe’s previous ones. She truly had seemed to crack and when she spoke again, her tone having completely and utterly changed, the red eyes of the dark warrior blazed crimson.

“Oh my. What has come over you all of a sudden?” The maid replied, seemingly unfazed for the moment. “Is the mere mention of your last meeting with my Mistress enough to draw out your darker half? How curious. You seem like a completely different woman although I am not complaining. I have an open mind and I will fight with whatever personality that you want to take on, as will Medeia when she arrives. Take it from me, neither of us give the slightest damn about the lives of mortals and will quite happily wipe out a population of them if we desire it but that is not our true goal. Both of us are beings of lust and what we wish for is for those who we fancy to be locked in our embrace. Dear Nita would not have had to kill anyone if she had just allowed my Mistress to complete her job and then spent some quality time with her. She is responsible for what happened and it is all due to her obsession with playing the hero. You are not Nita though, are you? So I suppose it is silly of me to try and explain things any further when she is no longer in control.”

The maid would blow a kiss at that point, a magical one that could ensnare the mind of a foe and force them to walk towards her if it struck. Armina honestly doubted that it would work but the maid would have a second attack planned, which she would use regardless of how her new enemy dealt with the kiss. The maid would briefly vanish, before reappearing before the blonde woman and swinging at her with her axe from behind. A simple teleport and strike combination, attempting to keep her enemy on her toes. There was no point messing around now and Armina had a feeling that this new persona was most definitely going to be a different prospect. Still, there was nothing else that the maid could do other than plough at her opponent with as many powerful blows as she could strike with.

The magical aura of her foe had attracted the attention of Armina’s raven haired Mistress too and the temperature began to heat up as she increased her pace towards the cathedral. She could already sense what the conclusion would be to her maid’s fight and it would not be a pleasant one.

(1025 Words)
(9869 TWC)

The power of Maria’s thrust sent the dark maid sliding backwards, although the goddess would have preferred it if Armina’s axe had not been there to block the spear attack. She allowed a look of disappointment to cross her features as she looked at her spear. ”My spear is still clean?” she soliloquized, acting as though her opponent suddenly no longer mattered. ”No, no, this won’t do at all.” Then her eyes slowly rose to meet Armina’s blazing eyes, and a roguish smile slowly twisted the goddess’s lips. It seemed she would have to up her game a little if she wanted to deal with Medeia’s blood thirsty maid. Despite the fact that she knew she was stronger than Armina, the dark angel could obviously hold her own in a fight. That was all well and good. Unlike Nita, who preferred to be more diplomatic and attempt to talk things through, or fight while still having thoughts about her opponent’s wellbeing, Maria was not bound by such petty notions. She was a goddess of desire, wisdom and war, and war involved death, a lot of it. Certainly, Maria knew that her personality had been changed by Nita, just as much as Nita’s personality had been changed by her. For starters, before they had crossed paths, Nita would have been horrified if she had awoken to find herself wearing what she normally wore these days without batting an eyelid. Maria, for her part, would have probably joined Armina to kill everyone in the church, before turning on the dark angel, just because she could. Still, they were different. To Maria, Nita was too gentle, too kind, but Maria had learned to understand her, the same way Nita had learned to understand the goddess. And they were both stronger for it now.

In any event, Nita’s mental trauma at remembering what would be her first kill had brought Maria to the fore. The goddess was not sure Nita would fully approve of all her actions here, but she was going to show the Pergrandian how to deal with the bad guys. It was a single adverb: decisively. ”What has come over me?” Maria echoed, feigning surprise and confusion. ”Nothing too serious, to answer your question. I’m just going to be trying harder to kill you now, if you don’t mind. That you do not give a damn about mortal lives is enough for me. Nita does, and while I consider mortals to be short-lived and really lacking in sense, I find myself beholden to uphold her sentiments. Difficult to explain, really. Whichever the case, Nita would not have had to kill anyone if your mistress and her goons had not waltzed all over the place like they owned it, killing whom they pleased and taking what they wanted. Personally, I’m surprised that the bigger one of Medeia’s goons was heartbroken. Isn’t it ridiculous that she didn’t care about destroying the happiness of the families of those guards she and her colleague killed, and yet you feel she had legitimate right to be sad when her colleague was killed? Sounds hypocritical, if you asked me. I don’t know about Nita, but I’d personally respect the bad guys more if one of those dear to them got killed, and they went, ‘eh, I’ve killed people dear to others too, so fair’s square’. But no. While Nita, poor darling that she is, feels a lot of guilt over having to kill someone that night, she is in no way responsible for what happened. Your mistress is the responsible one, for thinking she can do as she pleases and ruin others’ lives as she pleases, without some form of retaliation. And even though Nita is no longer in control, don’t worry, you’re not being silly trying to explain. I’m just as confused as she is about the motivations of selfish people such as yourself.”

Seeing Armina blow a kiss, Maria held forth her hand as the purple energy exploded towards her. A wall of black cards inscribed with diamonds formed, making a wall between herself and the approaching spell. Whatever it was, the goddess was not interested in experiencing its effects, because she was sure they would probably not be pleasant. And that was when she sensed that Armina was behind her. Thanks to her Aspect of Knowledge, she could tell, even though she couldn’t see the maid, that Armina had vanished from her position, and reappeared right at her back, swinging that brutal battle axe at her. Things were beginning to get more interesting. If it were Nita, the Pergrandian would have probably attempted to dodge the attack, due to her habit of pretending to be physically weaker than she really was. And given Nita’s impressive speed, she would have most likely succeeded. Maria, however, liked to fight as one who was accustomed to the relatively cramped spaces of a battlefield, where it was a wiser option to block than dodge. In a one-on-one battle such as this one, dodging held no strategic disadvantage, but Maria did not prefer it, when she could let her opponent know that she could match her insane strength. Spinning to her left, so that her shield-wearing arm was closest to the incoming attack, Maria parried the swing with her horse-head shield, and almost immediately afterwards made another thrust with the spear in her right hand, attacking the angelic maid over her shield.

She could not be certain, but the air seemed to be getting tense… hotter, perhaps? Maria was not particularly bothered by the heat; fire was one of the Night Goddess’s elements, after all, but the goddess was beginning to sense that the mistress of the dark angel would be here anytime soon. It would be quite the disadvantage to face two opponents at the same time. She would try to end this as soon as she could. ”Orison of Desire: Love Tap!” Maria released a pulse of invisible but quite palpable energy in all directions, hoping to catch the angel in its blast at such a close range. If it hit, unless Armina could resist immobility, she would feel her nerves going haywire with pain, which would be enough to temporarily stop her from moving. If it missed, well, Maria hadn’t yet run out of party tricks.


WC: 1050
TWC: 10919

This persona was far more aggressive, both in words and actions, which had certainly surprised the purple haired maid. She was not shocked as such, having heard about such things from her Mistress in the past but it definitely made the fight more difficult although that was not necessarily a negative thing. Armina did love to go all out and to come across a foe who liked to do the same was rather refreshing. Nita had seemed to lack the killing intent that this character had and gave the contest an extra spark. Legal mages were normally so hesitant when it came to dealing damage, afraid that they might hurt their foes, which the busty warrior found completely ridiculous. What was the point of going into a fight with the mindset that you could not kill the enemy? It was as if you were going into battle with a blunt weapon and one arm tied behind you. Without that kill or be killed attitude, one would never achieve their full potential and be forever a weak fool. Her Mistress had spoken as such many times but it was not just that. Armina had been in a great deal of fights over the centuries and had realised it for herself. War was nothing new to her and she and her Mistress had fought in many, including the current one between Pergrande and Bellum, for the former as a matter of fact.

“I suppose it is only right that a mortal being would not understand the mind of an immortal one.” Armina replied in a rather dismissive tone. “In the minds of myself and my Mistress, mortals are little more than objects or animals in truth. We toy with them, entertain ourselves with them and when we are feeling vindictive, end them. There are always more wherever we go and they are drawn to us. We are both angels, creatures from beyond the skies and they will worship us into the day that they die. There is nothing that they can do to defeat us and so knowing that, they bow. Those who do not? Well they do not last very long, the men anyway. The women? I think you already know the answer to that, if you truly have access to Nita’s memories.”

Pausing briefly, she would then add. “Say what you want but it was not my Mistress who killed Seles. It was not her who lost control of her magic and obliterated that girl. Nita’s hands will always be stained with her blood and there is nothing she can do about that other than either spending her life in grief or realising that killing is necessary and coming to terms with it. You know as well as I do that your host is incredibly naive, despite her power and that naivete will keep biting her until she grows up. You do not seem to have the same problem though. That spear in your hand is filled with killing intent, whereas before it was little more than a wooden stick.”

Her foe was strong indeed and Armina’s and neither her kiss spell nor her teleporting strike seemed to do anything against Nita’s new persona. She was seemingly outmatched although the busty maid was not going to let that stop her from battling on. It was only in the most difficult fights that one would learn from, after all and the purple haired woman was going to go out on her axe should she be defeated and once her resurrection was complete, she would only use it as fuel to stoke the fires and lust for battle that lurked deep within her. Win or loss, she would grow and keep increasing her power until the world ended and turned to dust. Perhaps that was why she fought with such a lack of caution. There was simply no need to fear when death could not hold her. What was the worst thing that could happen? Be thrown in a cage? Ha. As if anyone could. Her Mistress would break her out of such a predicament with a click of her fingers.

The opponent was fast and sent a powerful thrust from her spear over her shield, clipping Armina’s arm and releasing a spurt of blood from where contact had been made. There was an angry gasp from the maid at that moment but the look in her eyes only seemed to become more intense rather than fearful. The sight of her own blood was as effective a motivator as that of an enemy and a wicked laugh escaped her lips, causing her to look rather unhinged. Yet, her foe seemed to be rather enjoying herself too and she briefly pondered whether the blood would affect her in the same way. It was quite an entertaining thought and one that was appealing to the maid.

However, the pain she felt from the thrust was nothing compared to what was coming next as a wave of powerful energy struck her before she could react. It was a foul magic whatever it was and she soon began to twitch and writhe, her axe dropping to the floor due to the pain of the blow. Every nerve seemed to be on fire and a scream left her lips as she reeled backwards from the pain, a scream that would raise the hairs on the back of anyone’s neck, powerful and throaty. There was no chance that she could get a counter attack going and soon enough, she would tumble to the floor in pain, reeling from the unrelenting pain. Deep in the recesses of her mind though, she was actually taking pleasure from the experience. A lover of pain as she was, the experience was…stimulating.

“You are no different than my Mistress…,” she managed to say, a rather sick smile crossing her features despite the pain. “Just as cruel and wicked as she is. No legal mage would use such a torturous type of magic. This is surely your magic, not Nita’s.”

“...I would not be so sure of that, my dear Armina.” A voice echoed across from the cathedral, its owner entering through the large double doors, armed to the teeth with books and various other magical devices. “You will find that lovely Nita is an endless source of surprises.”

Armina’s Mistress had arrived and she did not look all that happy with her scene playing out in front of her.

“When it comes to punishing my maid, I will perform the deed myself. Step away from her. Now.”

There was no playful teasing in her voice today.

(1103 Words)
(12022 TWC)

Armina’s talking about how it was fitting for mortals not to understand the ways of immortals was a bit banal, in Maria’s opinion. For a group of immortals, said immortals being Armina and her mistress, who behaved very much like power-drunk humans, there was quite little Maria thought she did not understand. It was an anthem sung by everyone who had power and misused it. It was a little bit hypocritical to judge the axe-swinging maid that way, in any case, and so the goddess did not reply to the maid’s opinion on how humans were so much in apparent need of them. It was probably a two-way street, being fused with a human. Maria was certain that before she had become this, when she was still a Primordial, she had had no faculties with which to feel shame. The concept of shame was as preposterous as, for example, a human feeling sorry for breathing. And then Nita had come along, and she had become Maria, goddess but no longer Primordial. Ever so often, she wondered whether this had been a demotion or an ascension. Perhaps it was a bit of both. The gained ability to empathize with the lesser life-forms was surprisingly educative, although Maria knew she was nowhere near as compassionate as her vessel. Compassion had its uses. In the face of someone like Armina, compassion was a hobble.

Maria did have to agree with Armina, as far as one thing was concerned: Nita’s naïveté made her rather soft, especially in situations where a firmer hand was required. She had no doubts that the young Pergrandian would eventually come to terms with killing as being part of the job; Nita had a good head on her shoulders, and besides, the girl was part war goddess. She would adapt. She would probably never become as bloodthirsty as the purple-haired maid, but Maria was sure that given time, Nita would be able to strike down an opponent without hesitating, if the situation called for it. With the way the major powers of Ishgar seemed so keen on sighting one another down the barrels of cannons, Maria was sure that her host would soon find herself on the field of battle. What made this suspicion almost prophetically certain was the fact that although his motives were as of yet undiscerned, Arcanos, at this strange time, had chosen to endow his favor on Nita, who by blood was supposed to be an enemy of the god’s faith. In times like this, Maria felt keen pity for the general collective called humanity. They were so powerless… and yet, it had been a human that had changed Maria to the way she was. One thing was certain, and Armina and her mistress would eventually have to come to terms with it: as weak as humans were, they were not altogether powerless, and some of them exhibited power so shocking they could be gods in their own right. Perhaps there were too few that existed presently in this world, but surely Medeia would have to have come across someone who had given her pause. A mere mortal.

While Maria’s aggressive thrust did not land where she had hoped it would (read: a vital point on the human form), it had drawn blood. Despite Armina’s boast about being immortal, the maid could bleed just like the softer meatbags out there. In the words of a wise man, ‘if it bleeds, we can kill it.’ Truthfully, Maria had no idea if that was from a wise person, but it did sound like some mortal proverb. Nita had heard that statement somewhere before, and that was why it had come to Maria’s mind. It was probably from one of those entertainment things… movies, yes. It did sound so wise, still. It seemed, as she had expected, that Armina would not be disabled with the spear thrust alone, and Maria’s Love Tap spell had been able to land a more satisfying hit on the dark angelic maid. Being the person she was, Maria could not help but feel the edges of her lips twitching into a small smile, as the maid dropped her axe and screamed. Maria simply stood motionless, watching as Armina collapsed to the floor and writhed, although the goddess had no idea that the maid was actually deriving pleasure from the ordeal. Nor would she have cared if she knew. Maria herself did have masochistic tendencies. Getting injured in battle was exhilarating. As was to be expected of a goddess of war.

The goddess braced herself to lift her spear, when Armina commented on how dastardly she was, comparing her to Medeia, who arrived not a moment later, correcting the maid that the magic used was Nita’s, and ordering Maria to step away from Armina. The expression on the dark angel’s face, and the edge in her voice informed Maria that Medeia was not at all pleased. That was nice. For no other reason than spite. If it was Nita, she would have probably tried to deescalate the situation if she could, because the young Pergrandian knew that someone like Medeia would not easily be swayed to the point of blind rage in which she would mindlessly rush into battle and into a trap. Maria was however not so invested in playing nice. Her smile became a naughty one, as she let go of her spear, which floated behind her, so that Medeia would see she was not going to attack just yet. ”And here was I thinking you’d be more excited to see me, Medeia love,” the goddess drawled, slowly sinking till she was kneeling beside Armina, as she teasingly ran a finger along the side of the maid’s head, curling the digit playfully in her purple hair. ”If it will make you feel any better, Nita was the one interested in punishing your maid and all that. And might I add that there’s something rather… indecent about maids and punishment. In any case, you may set your mind at ease; I have absolutely no intention of punishing your maid. You can do that all you want. As for me, I just want to see whether she will still be alive if I separated her head from her body. Armina did say she was immortal, the darling, and I’m just dying to see how that works. I’ll be very quick, promise. And then you can punish her all you want. I’ll even give you privacy.”


WC: 1080
TWC: 13102

“Oh. Do not misunderstand me. I am as excited as always to see your lovely form but you just keep getting in the way. Every time we cross paths, you are up to something that puts us at loggerheads and today is no exception. I have said this before, my dear, if you want to spend some quality time with me then you only have to ask. We would have last time if you hadn’t made a mess of my dinner. I would have taken care of you straight after if you had only waited in your bonds for a little longer. You are so impatient sometimes.” As annoyed as she was, Medeia could not help but briefly fall into her usual habits, her scowl momentarily becoming a flirty smirk.

The smile did not last long though, given the rather graphic intentions of whoever this was in Nita’s body and Medeia’s eyes and tone of voice hardened once more. “You could do whatever you wished to her and she would never truly die. At the point of destruction, both she and I simply turn to holy light and reform elsewhere. We can be defeated but never killed and take it from me, the process is more painful than you can imagine. That spell you are casting on my sweet maid now is nothing compared to the horrors that regeneration cause. You feel every moment, every agonising moment of agony as one’s body is slowly reformed. It takes quite a while to recover afterwards and Armina is awfully moody for at least a week once the process is complete. She becomes almost impossible to live with.”

“Do not worry, Mistress, this whore’s little spell does not hurt that badly.” The maid managed to say through gritted teeth. “I will have my way with her when I am able to move.”

“Language, Armina, language.” The raven haired woman replied. “Save it for the bedroom, not a place such as this.”

“You talk like that all the time, Mistress, I am just following your example.” The mouthy maid quipped, before scowling at the blonde as the played around with her hair and trying to bite her, with the limited amount of movement that she had while under Nita’s spell. Her pain resistance was naturally rather high.

Her maid was doing an awful job of keeping Medeia from smiling and the Warlord just sighed slightly and shook her head. Even now, with her nerves on fire, Armina still was able to say precisely what a maid in her position should not. Truthfully, if Errings Rising were not quite so obsessed with them, Medeia would just keep the busty purple haired woman as a guard but as it was, maid’s were all the fashion in the castle. Was Armina a good one? She was nosy, loud and always chasing the other maid’s around. Hardly the quiet and polite type but for Medeia, she would have no one else. The bond that they shared was just too strong.

Focusing back on Nita or whoever this persona was, Medeia would speak once more. “I must admit that I never would have expected to hear such gory details from your lovely lips. To decapitate a helpless opponent? How uncivilised of you. Either you have had quite the change of heart or once again you are not actually Nita and yet another persona has slipped into her head. Come on. There is no point in keeping secrets. Tell me who you are and just what your goal is. The last entity I spoke to was incredibly talkative and I quite enjoyed talking to her but as far as I remember, she was not as aggressive as you. What is it about Nita that attracts your kind so much? I am curious.”

A second sigh escaped her lips at that point, as she pulled herself back to the matter at hand. “Oh dear, I am getting rather off track, am I not? Clearly you are an entity who is far more interested in dishing out pain than conversation and as much as I would love to chat, you must pay for daring to abuse Armina in such a way. You are the one who needs to be punished first and I am afraid that I am not going to hold back this time. I did dearly want to keep this cathedral standing and use it as a base but if delivering your judgement means that this place has to come down around us then that is the way it will be.”

Her eyes fell upon the spear and in response to that, Medeia would pull two leaves from a small pouch that was attached to her waist. One was autumn orange and the other a crimson red in colour. With the briefest touch of her magical power, both leaves would start to shimmer and change form, until the angel would find herself wearing a full set of leaf based armour, along with a rose petal blade in her right hand. Neither of these were pieces of equipment that she had used against Nita before, as both were fairly new additions to her arsenal. Of course, they were just the beginning and she had brought everything this time around. She would test her enemy to the limits this time and just how far she had come.

A smile actually crossed her features once more at that point, as the thought of battle would start to energise her. It had been a while since she had last fought anyone who was at least remotely close to her level and the blonde woman before her had clearly become stronger since they had last met. “You remember what happens to women who lose to me, right? I will string you up again and this time, my dear, I will have my fun with you. Of course, I am sure that dear Armina will join us too, as I am sure that she will want to dish out a little punishment of her own.”

(1009 WC)
(14111 TWC)

Of course, Maria was certain that Nita had no interest in spending time with Medeia, and while she herself was not as scrupulous as her host, Maria had no reason to keep the dark angel’s company. They were enemies, and enemies were not supposed to derive pleasure from each other, unless as a ‘spoils of victory’ thing, or in the process of bashing out each other’s brains. Asking to spend time with the one who had all but become her nemesis was not going to happen. That, of course, did not prevent the goddess from throwing back her own quips. Maria found trading barbs to be somewhat interesting. Maybe that was one of the ways she sought to engage in battle, being a war goddess, or maybe it was an artifact picked from Nita’s personality. While she couldn’t say specifically what it was, there was one thing she knew: Nita would talk in the hope she could avoid battle; Maria would talk in the hope that she would meet it. ”The problem with your quality time is how so one-sided they seem to be,” the goddess answered good-naturedly, still playing with the fallen maid’s hair. ”I mean, you were having dinner downstairs, while your guest was tied up and starving upstairs. Horrible hospitality, that.”

So, even though Medeia and her maid were immortal, the process of reconstruction seemed to be quite a painful and unpleasant experience for the two. That was interesting to take note of. At least, even if there was nothing the dark angel feared, the trauma of experiencing what would be death for other less immortal beings seemed to be something that she did not find pleasant. It was glad to know that even if damage would not be permanent, she could inflict enough pain on Medeia and her maid. But care did have to be taken, seeing as she wasn’t sure of how immortal Nita was. Or herself, for that matter. If Nita died, she was certainly going to be in some sort of bind, one that would be best avoided by the maintained survival of the young Pergrandian.

Maria gasped in mock alarm at Armina’s angry words, placing the hand that wasn’t in the maid’s hair delicately on her chest in a show of expressed outrage. Medeia did not seem to approve of her language, though the maid countered that she was following her mistress’ example. The funny thing, in the goddess’ opinion was that the name the maid had slung at her opponent was probably more fitting for the maid than it was for either Nita or Maria; the former because she was really too innocent, and the latter because she was really too uninterested. Maria laughed at the vain attempt to bite her, and drew her face a little closer to Armina’s. ”Mwah,” she said, pursing her lips in an air kiss. Then she rose to her feet, as Medeia asked who she really was, identifying that she was not the Nita that the dark angel really did enjoy persecuting.

”Well, I believe you may have met me once before, back in Talonia, when you encountered Nita for the first time,” the goddess replied. ”Call me Maria. It is a simple enough name, and I like the sound of it. Oh, and you’ll be surprised at how much I do so enjoy conversation. It was Armina who came here swinging her barbaric weapon all over the place, and now I’m being accused of being more interested in dishing out pain and called barbaric. What a cruel world. If you must know,” she said, taking on a petulant air, ”I’m the same person you found incredibly talkative, but then, you weren’t swinging an axe about the place. I might as well inform you of my motives, since you did mention your interest in hearing them. First off, while those of my kind are attracted to Nita, they are not able to ‘get into her head’, nor are they really interested in doing so. I come from a line of old gods, and due to some interesting accidents, I found myself fused to dear Nita’s soul. So while we are somewhat separate entities, we share the same body and the same soul, but have different minds. And even then the influences of one seem to heavily affect the other. Perhaps that would explain Nita’s apparently mismatched innocence; I am after all a goddess of the cycle of creation, preservation and destruction, and my aspects of the cycle are desire, wisdom and war. Conversely, it appears that Nita’s compassion and desire to ease the suffering of others has rubbed off on me, although unlike her, I am not hesitant to stop the wanton destruction of lives with as extreme prejudice as I can afford. The reason I seemed so cordial back in Talonia was because even though you had initially toyed with the idea of causing death and destruction out of boredom, you seemed content to dally with Nita and call it a night, hence my civility. Your maid has not been so… cooperative.”

In any event, a fight was apparently inevitable. Medeia summoned an armor and a sword from two pages of one of her spell books. Maria gave a mock worried look at the armored figure before her, and then looked down at the minidress she was wearing. ”Uh, aren’t you being a little bit too serious?” she asked, as the Pegasus spear returned to her hand. ”I am dressed to go out and have fun, not demolish cathedrals. And speaking of building destruction, I’d rather we left this building still standing when we were done. Can’t we just try the more environment-friendly way of fighting, which would involve up rolling on the ground and pulling at our hair? I’m quite sure the cathedral would be able to withstand that. But I’ll have to give as good as I get, so don’t blame me if I throw my back into it.”

Maria knew what Medeia did to women who were her victims. It was degrading, especially as far as Nita was concerned, and though the goddess did feel at times that her host was something of a prude, she was going to try as much as she could to ensure that she kept Nita’s physical form as safe as she could afford, which included not being subjected to the lusty angel’s indignities. The promise of Armina joining in only made Maria all the more eager to not find herself at the mercy of these two degenerates, seeing as Armina would surely have her revenge on the blonde mage, and it wasn’t pleasant in any way to think about. ”I’d rather have Armina not joining in; she did want to spank me with the flat of her axe, after all.  So I don’t plan on losing.” That would be a bit difficult, but Maria would not show any indication of her opinion of the odds.


WC: 1160
TWC: 15271

Truth be told, Medeia was not all that happy about being told that her hospitality skills were sub par. It was not as if the Warlord would have actually let Nita starve. Rivals or not, the raven haired woman was incredibly fond of her and she most certainly did not desire to put the blonde through such a horrible experience. As twisted as it might sound, Medeia did have her own form of etiquette and she would never let such a beautiful treasure suffer in such a way. Had the Luminous Rose not gotten out on her own, then Medeia would have treated her to a meal, after having a little fun with her of course. “Come on now, starving is an over exaggeration. Nita might have had to wait a little while but she would have been taken care of properly. You have my word on that.”

She did find the interactions between Nita’s other half and Armina rather amusing though, with the dark mage finding it difficult not to imagine herself in the blonde’s place. The maid was the primary source of Medeia’s amusement and when she had no one else to take care of, she would generally play around with Armina instead. There was a part of her that was a tad frustrated with her maid, however, as yet again she had blindly charged an opponent who was far too strong for her. It had been precisely the same way that she had gone about fighting that Kensho brat and the maid had been defeated easily by him. Nita’s magical aura was even stronger than his from what Medeia could tell and that had obviously boded poorly for the purple haired maid. She adored Armina’s devotion to her but the woman was a tad lacking in the nous and intelligence department. All muscle and no brains.

The entity, who turned out to be the same one that she had spoken to in Talonia, only confirmed how her maid had behaved, resulting in a slight roll of the eyes from the angel. “Forgive me for not recognising you, Maria, I just could not quite believe that you could be quite so vicious, given how cordial you were the last time we spoke. Yet, I find it difficult not to understand your point of view, as my dear maid had a habit of following my orders to the letter, without much in the way of thought. She should have retreated and waited for me to appear but alas, she is a feisty woman and once the blood starts pumping, there is nothing that can stop her until she has satiated her lust. If you had not paralysed her, you would have had to batter her into submission because she would never stay down otherwise. Stubborn as a mule and never knowing when to quit. Admirable but foolish.”

“That is a cruel thing to say, Mistress, I can beat this blonde bimbo. She just caught me off guard with nasty spell of hers. You said that Nita was a sweet woman and would never resort to such evil abilities.” Armina protested, becoming more and more irritated by Maria’s toying around with her.

“No. You cannot. She is beyond you in terms of strength and I think that you need to spend a little more time thinking back to our encounter in Shirotsume.” Medeia answered in a rather matter of fact tone. “There are some foes in this world that are beyond you, my dear, as you have just found out yet again.”

The maid huffed at that point and stared daggers at Maria. Her body was still sore all over from the blonde’s attack and although she could start to move her fingers again, she was hardly in a state to attack and so all she could do was scowl, much to her annoyance. “Hmph. Apologies for failing you again, Mistress.”

“You can make it up to me later.” The witch replied, a small and flirty smirk crossing her features.

Her attention returning back to Maria once more, she would tilt her head before addressing the lovely woman. “Believe me. I would much rather be rolling around with you than slinging spells. It is no secret that I do not like crossing blades with other women and if I could have my way then I would quite happily just cuddle up with you for a while. Unfortunately, you have harmed Armina and I cannot let that pass, even if she was the aggressor. You see, she and I are the last of our kind and I am just the tiniest bit overprotective. Calling Armina my maid is rather insensitive on my part. She means much more to me than that and that is why this cannot end in a civil manner.”

With that being said, there was a flash of irritation that crossed her features and she added after Maria’s last remark. “Well, she will most certainly not be doing that. Your lovely rear does not need an axe being taken to it, just an adventurous pair of hands.”

It was only then that she came back to the woman’s point about her rather serious looking gear and after thinking about it for a moment, she answered. “Well, you are wielding that serious looking spear and judging from the wound on Armina, it is surely no toy. It would be foolish of me not to arm myself accordingly. I would rather not have to fight without a weapon against it, as it makes such a mess of my poor soft hands. How am I going to be able to take care of you afterwards without them?”

In a moment of surprising levity, given the situation, she would finally ask. “It is a shame that we cannot end this the same way that we did our last encounter. I still remember Nita and I’s kiss, you know and it was most definitely memorable. I cannot help but wonder if she has been practicing her skills since then?”

(1006 Words)
(16277 TWC)

From what Nita had experienced with Medeia, Maria did not doubt that the dark angel wasn’t lying when she said she would have taken proper care of the blonde Pergrandian.  But one of the few traits Maria and Nita shared, and thus one of the reasons the goddess wasn’t ashamed to own a host such as the flighty Nita, was the vehement dislike of being unable to act. One of Nita’s most vehement fears was the fear of becoming powerless, and although the blonde maiden was not likely to lose the magical powers she had acquired anytime soon, the truth was that if someone feared something, they would be driven to, at the very least, displeasure, at lesser forms of that which was feared. So for Nita to find herself unable to use her magic, and bound in a position that made her cheeks flame up anytime she remembered it, it was unacceptable. The fact that she was in the power of her enemies, never minding Medeia’s reluctance to harm women, did not make her predicament any easier to bear. And so she had worked her way into freedom. Maria knew the girl always wondered if things would have been different if she had been more docile and allowed Medeia to have her way, but the goddess was also aware that as dainty and soft as Nita seemed, she possessed a will as indomitable as the goddess of war whose persona and powers she bore. So in the end, even though assured of Medeia’s care, Nita would never agree to the dark angel’s propositions, for the singular fact that they were on opposing sides of duty. Since Maria shared a great deal of her motivations, nothing would change when the goddess was in charge.

Maria listened to Medeia’s explanation of Armina’s eagerness to fight a battle that would not turn out to the maid’s favor, and the heated response from the maid, an amused smile on her face. Her eyes connected with Armina’s, as the maid shot her a look that could kill. ”Oh my, someone looks awfully annoyed to see me,” she said, unbothered about the words and hostile glares of Medeia’s companion. ”Now I’m a ‘blonde bimbo’? My my, whatever did I do to you, honey?” She did notice that Armina was no longer absolutely immobile; her spell was not capable of putting someone as tough as the angelic maid out for a long period of time. There would be a strategic disadvantage if Armina was up and doing once again. If she had to face two opponents at the same time, then Medeia’s prediction of the cathedral being brought down around the ears of the combatants would be actualized. If she could fight Medeia alone, there was no surefire guarantee that the cathedral would not take any damage whatsoever; in fact, if the building was still standing after the fight, it would be a mercy. But Maria was sure that if Medeia was not the only one she had to deal with, she would probably have to use more environment-unfriendly spells to be able to accommodate fighting the both of them at once.

It could not be helped; even if she was not in the wrong, because she had laid a hand on Armina, Maria was to face Medeia’s punishment. ”Aren’t you spoiling her too much?” the blonde mage asked, giving the maid a sidelong glance. ”If you allow little kids to do whatever they want without any notable repercussions, you’ll make pests and societal evils. Mommies have a lot of responsibilities, after all. In any case, I’m afraid the adventurous pair of hands on my backside will not be happening anytime soon. You must understand that as a goddess, I have an image to protect.” That last sentence was said with a good degree of haughty airs. ”And if I have a say in this matter, the intention is for you not to have to take care of me when this matter is over. My dignity is such a delicate thing, too delicate for even your soft, refined hands.” She paused and her eyes widened slightly at Medeia’s question, then she threw back her head and laughed, a bemused expression on her face. ”Seriously, Medeia love, you talk as though you don’t know that silly girl, Nita. Practicing her skills? Why, that lovable prig would most likely faint if she found herself in the arms of someone she had taken a fancy to. I swear, I do find her responses to amorous things amusing. I should be ashamed of myself, though. I am after all responsible for her inclinations. You should have seen her before we met. You’d think she was a Zentopian nun, the way she carried herself. In the end, the world was such a duller place until I came along. Yay me!”

Maria twirled her spear, and pointed it at Medeia. ”In any case, sugar, I guess time for talk is over. You did say, after all, that you would have to punish me for laying a hand on that bundle of delight that is Armina. Seems I won’t be able to get to kill her today, or subject her to whatever your kind experience when brought to the threshold of the mortal coil. So, let’s fall to. And please try not to tear my clothes. I really don’t mind, but I’m sure Nita would be horrified to have to appear in public wearing next to nothing. And clothes are quite expensive these days, so let’s all try and show a little kindness to Nita, shall we? Seeing as there’s no one here who has any notably bad thing to say about the poor dearie, you would agree with me that being kind is the least we can do. Now then, as Nita said to Armina, I say to you: en garde!” As she called her challenge, the goddess leaped into the air at Medeia, drawing back her spear wielding arm before making a thrust at her opponent as she got within range.


WC: 1010
TWC: 17287

There was a notable smile on Medeia’s face as Maria commented and countered her various points. The blonde was never short of words and that was just one of many reasons that the Warlord took such an interest in her, whether it be Nita, Maria or anyone else who might one day decide to make their presence known. The raven haired woman had been through the very same process that the two beings were going through of course. There was once a time where Medeia had a creature of her own inside her mind and truth be told, that was still the case now. The difference between herself and Nita? The dark mage and her angelic partner had fused together completely, to the point where they were one and the same. Priya was her and she was Priya as simple as that. She briefly pondered if Nita and Maria would ever end up reaching the same compromise between them, a thought that intrigued Medeia greatly. Just how would things change if that result was reached?

Armina was most definitely not enjoying herself any longer and as her limbs became mobile again, her mind was filled with ideas about exactly what she wanted to do with the blonde. To be referred to as a child infuriated her and the purple haired woman vowed to herself that one day, she would have the annoying lady at her mercy and no matter what her Mistress said, it would be more than her hands that she would use to punish the legal mage. She did shiver slightly at the thought of her Mistress’s wrath if she went against her orders but it would all be worth it and besides, Armina enjoyed being punished by Medeia anyway and to be tied up and played around with for a while was more of a reward.

Medeia made no real move against the blonde and simply waited, wanting to see if Maria had the gall and confidence to actually attack her first. She might have been annoyed with her legal mage rival but that did not mean that the dark aligned woman wanted to beat her to a bloody pulp. Oh no, she was far too fond of both Nita and Maria by association to wish them any permanent harm. When she thought about what she wanted to do with them, a devious smirk would simply cross her face, imagining the lovely blonde at her mercy, their beautiful face and body just waiting to be toyed with. The encounter at Rose Garden had only increased this desire and sooner or later, Medeia would get her wish. It was as certain as the sun rising and setting or the tides changing. She had never failed to fulfil her desires yet and there was no chance that the Warlord was going to start that trend now. Nita and Maria needed to be punished anyway and just what that comprised was entirely up to her. Honestly, she was sorely tempted to humiliate them, as poor Suzhen had been humiliated in the past. Their ego’s would be well and truly damaged but that would be the end of it.

Soon enough, Maria shouted a challenge and attacked, leaping towards her with her spear outstretched. It was quite a potent attack and already Medeia could see why Armina had struggled. The woman’s speed was impressive and there would have been no way that her maid would have kept up. Just because she was Armina’s Mistress, did not mean that Medeia was arrogant enough to not realise that. Herself on the other hand? Well, the raven haired woman did not like to brag about her own skills but without even casting a spell, her abilities were highly advanced. Her strength lied in her books, which passively boosted her base abilities to an incredibly high level. Even her weakest spell could destroy the cathedral around them if she was not careful. Yet, that was not what she wished to happen and so for the time being, she would simply test her opponent and see if Maria could push her far enough to have to consider that option.

“How ferocious.” She casually commented, before leaning to her right in order to evade Nita’s attack, watching as the blonde went straight past her. The raven haired woman did not instantly try to counter attack, instead simply watching her opponent. Medeia was toying with Maria as she always did, as she always did with everyone. Unlike Armina, there would not be an awful lot of killing intent in Medeia’s movements or magical aura at that point. Her initial anger had sort of fizzled away, now that she had realised that Armina would be safe and instead she was looking at Maria with a playful gaze. “No wonder Armina was outclassed, you move like greased lightning, my dear.”

Holding up her rose petal sword in front of her, she would utter softly, briefly thinking about her maid in order to activate the ability. “Lover’s Resolve.”

Her sword would instantly start to glow, the petals beautifully sparkling around it. A simple ability but one that was not to be underestimated. With this ability in play, shields and armour were little more than pieces of paper, as it could pierce through any defence, even those with the power to block piercing. It was the ultimate weapon when it came to breaking through defences and as she then suddenly turned to sand and swiftly reappeared behind Maria, she would swing her delightful blade towards the blonde with one hand, wishing to test both her sword and her opponents reflexes. Truthfully, swordplay was not her strongest suit and she would much rather be using her more entertaining abilities but for the moment, she would make do with a little close combat. Perhaps she would be able to end the fight quickly enough that the cathedral would not be damaged but either way, her punishment would be dished out and the beautiful blonde would be in her arms, where she belonged.

(1008 Words)
(18295 TWC)

To say Maria was not surprised when Medeia had not counterattacked immediately after she had made her attack would be lying. The goddess expected that her airborne opponent would simply evade the attack by moving out of the way, and was half expecting that the dark angel would attempt to take the advantage of having her opponent relatively with less mobility due to her being under the effects of gravity while in descent. The truth was that Maria would not have made such a simple attack with a lot of potential openings against an opponent as worthy of caution as the Warlord of Lust was. The goddess was capable of flight herself, and by two different means, although neither was readily evident. If Medeia had attempted to take advantage of the goddess’ descent, Maria would have probably attempted to use that element of surprise, which came from her hidden ability to maintain effective mobility in the air, to evade and make a counterattack of her own. Medeia’s evasion hinted two things about the dark angel. Firstly, she was smart enough to not attempt to underestimate such an apparently simple attack by taking it head on. Secondly, she was confident enough of her skills to not dodge by a wide berth. Maria was sure that Medeia could have touched her as she passed.

The blonde mage’s heels made a clicking sound as she landed gracefully on the stone floor of the cathedral before turning to look at her opponent, who praised her movements. Maria noted silently that the dark angel did not seem to be angry any longer; this was most probably because Armina was not in any present danger of having her head separated from her shoulders. The goddess made a light curtsey in response to Medeia’s commendation. ”It is my aim to please, my lady.” The difference between Medeia and her maid was quite obvious, not only in power levels, but bearing as well. Armina, from what Maria had seen of her, came on into the fray, fangs bared and gunning for the kill. Medeia seemed to act more like a predator that had already caught her food, and was playing with it, confident of the prey’s inability to get away, and choosing when to go for the kill at her convenience and comfort. Frankly, Maria felt she would be disappointed if she did not at least make the dark angel sweat a little during this encounter. She would have to up the stakes a bit.

Whatever intentions Maria had of executing another attack were put on hold, as Medeia made an attack of her own. Although Medeia had muttered the spell, thanks to her Slayer senses, Maria was able to hear what it was called, although the sound of the name did little to give the goddess an informed idea of what exactly said spell performed. The flower-like blade began to shine, with the petals putting on an impressive light show. And then one moment Medeia was before her, and the next the dark angel was gone, as a burst of sand marked the spot where the dark haired Warlord had been hovering. The next thing Maria knew, Medeia was behind her. While this was a rather simple and straightforward (in only a figurative sense) tactic, there was the adage that went ‘old tricks survive, because they are the best’. Still, Maria would have been ashamed of herself if she was not able to respond to a surprise attack, and as expected of her status as a goddess of war, was already responding to the encroaching blade as Medeia made her swing. What made the dark angel’s attack problematic was not the direction of the attack, but the speed of the swing. The dark angel was quite fast, so Maria was not sure she would be able to so easily dodge the attack. Still, she was sure she could block it without any serious problems, moving her body as well so that even if Medeia brought her strength to bear (which Maria was certain was no trifle), the goddess would shift such that she would more deflect than absorb the shock of the blow. The goddess did a graceful half-pirouette as she swung her left arm in the way of the coming attack, even as her body leaned away from Medeia’s swing. Her intention was that as soon as the weapon connected with her shield, she would thrust at it with her shield at an angle, so that the force of her thrust would not meet the force of Medeia’s slash head-on, but skewed. Thus, if she could not push her opponent back, her opponent would push her out of the way by the force of the deflected swing.

It was when Medeia’s sword encountered the Pegasus shield that Maria realized she had made a mistake. Her assumption had been that the strange spell which the dark angel had cast on her sword was some sort of physical prowess buffing spell, seeing it was called ‘Lover’s Resolve’. Maria had gambled that it would up her opponent’s strength, and perhaps endurance. Which was why she was not expecting the flower sword to slice through her sturdy shield like a hot knife through butter. Still, such an attack would be too simple to take down one such as Maria. Expertise in the sphere of war made a warrior able to make last-minute responses to incoming attacks, to prevent an attack from being fatal otherwise. ”Armor piercing!” Maria thought with alarm, as she reflexively tilted away from the approaching weapon, going off balance in order to get as far away as possible from the glowing metal. She did not escape the blade, as it made a clean cut in her side. Still, the cut was not that deep, and was a lot less serious than it would have been had she not made the extra move. Since she was already falling, Maria released the weapons in her hands, freeing her hands for what she was going to do next.

As she had failed to successfully escape Medeia’s blade, she was going to attempt a counterattack in order to get back at the dark angel, and though she wasn’t going to use her weapons for her counter, the power of her unarmed strikes was not a paltry thing. Maria twisted her body, so that her hands would touch the floor first. She grunted as she felt the pain from her new wound, but that didn’t stop her from continuing her attack. As soon as her hands touched the floor, in an almost breakdance-like move, the blonde mage twisted again, kicking her legs into the air and aiming to smash one of them into the dark angel. Her hope was that with Medeia’s proximity, the dark angel would not be expecting such an unorthodox attack, and thus would have issues reacting to it.


WC: 1150
TWC: 19445

There was the familiar smell of blood that soon began to stem from her opponent and given her own Slayer senses, she was able to pick up on that instantly. She had not honestly expected to have caught Maria so soon but the element of surprise had been with her, namely the special effect of her rose petal sword. It had wonderfully pierced through the blonde woman’s guard and Medeia could not have been more pleased with the result. That attack must have stung, given that the damage was magical rather than physical and it gave the witch a target to direct her focus upon. That all being said, Maria had been quick to react to the blow and did not waste a moment, already moving to deliver what would no doubt be a potent counter attack. The angel had made the mistake of underestimating her opponents before and she would not repeat that this time. Oh, she was most definitely playing around with the legal mage but that did not mean that she was going to fight without any caution at all. Maria deserved better than that.

While the fight between the two powerful women played out, Armina could do nothing but simply lie there, waiting for her own energy to return to her. The immobilisation effect was well and truly over by now and the purple haired maid could definitely feel her arms and legs but the pain that she had suffered from Maria’s spell had taken the wind out of her. The maid could not help but wonder about just what other unpleasant techniques that this woman had in her arsenal and just how her Mistress would handle them. Oh, she had no fear of her beloved Medeia losing, as there were very few beings in Earthland who were truly capable of such a feat but she pondered nonetheless. A smile crossed her features as she watched, loving the sight of her Mistress in combat. Such poise, such grace and yet such power from even the simplest ability. She and her raven haired partner were rather different in their approaches when it came to combat but that did not mean that Armina was not in awe of her Mistress’s skills. Even now, having been with her for so long, they could still take her breath away. For the moment though, all she could do was watch and wait for the moment where she could get involved. Perhaps providing an important distraction for her dark haired guildmate.

To Medeia’s slight surprise, Maria would drop her weapons and perform a rather dance-like manoeuvre, before launching a powerful kick in her direction. It was unfortunate that she saw these movements now rather than in a more intimate setting as the Warlord would have quite enjoyed seeing the beautiful blonde strut her lovely body in front of her, without a care in the world. As it was, the witch had to keep her focus on the fight and since dodging the attack was almost impossible due to the short range, she decided to access the powers of her leafy armour instead. “Enchanted Guardian.” She uttered aloud, which caused the yellow and orange leaves to glow, hardening them and creating a powerful defence. Her shielding spells were naturally boosted due to her books and she had no problem at all with allowing Maria’s kick to hit her in the mid section, her armour taking the impact and rather well at that. The defensive technique was of a high rank and quality, granting Medeia an array of effects of and advantages. Not quite her best defence but one that would give her opponent pause for thought nonetheless.

“You know that if you want to show off your breakdancing skills, I would happily watch them for hours. That goes for any other dancing styles you may have a fondness for too.” She casually stated, complimenting the blonde and chuckling as she did so.

For a few seconds, she allowed Maria’s leg to remain against her armour but soon enough, she would try to swat it away with her free hand, before unleashing another attack with her rapier. Still probing and toying for now, there was little in the way of killing intent behind her attack. Even the look in her eyes was rather playful, the seething anger and irritation that had once filled them now utterly gone. She just could not stay mad at the blonde for too long, even when she had attacked her maid. There was just something about the beautiful Luminous Rose mage that amused her to no end. Her interest in both Nita and Maria was an obsession of the most maddening kind, one that most likely never fade away, no matter how much time passed.

That obsession had actually started to spread to the woman’s guild as well and Medeia had met more than one of the lovely blonde’s guildmates. Her eyes were firmly on the lovely pink based group and there were moments where she pondered about whether she might try and claim it for herself one day. Yes, being the Co GM of Errings Rising was fun but her ambition was always so great and the thought of bringing an entire guild of beautiful legal mages under her leadership was a delicious thought. She had already made friends with Sakura and Illya and was fond of both and with her lovely budding relationship with Nita too, things seemed to be going her way in that regard.

For the time being though, her focus would remain on Maria and the struggle that they were taking part in now. Medeia did truly wish to see just how far the other half of Nita would go and if her threats towards Armina were anything to go by then she would not be surprised if she was in for a few sticky moments. Nita was a touch naive and innocent but her godly companion was most certainly not. Mortals thought of holy beings as pure but the truth was anything but, if both Maria, herself and Armina were anything to go by.

(1021 Words)
(20466 TWC)

In a way, a fight between two expert combatants with senses and faculties honed by skill and magic was like a table tennis round, or a debate between well-spoken orators. On the field of battle, fights were much less shorter, and were a great mix of skill and luck, with the latter playing out to be more important than one’s learned abilities in the matter of warfare. And the first to attack usually had the advantage. That was where the inclusion of magic changed the narrative completely. For starters, most very powerful mages were capable of taking hits that would normally kill a human in their prime. As though that was not enough, those who had higher magical capabilities had reflexes much more impressive than the best that mere flesh and blood had to offer. Throwing in the ability to use spells made combat something more of a drawn out occasion, in which there was series after series of attacks, defenses, counters and other such things, which would normally be impossible to see in a fight between two normal creatures. That was why Maria could survive Medeia’s attack on her, and launch a quick counteroffensive of her own.

It was also the reason Medeia was able to prevent the goddess’ kick from dealing any damage. The dark angel, probably realizing that she would not be able to get out of the way as quickly as possible from the sweeping kick, instead opted to defend against it by blocking, and that with a potent form of magical defense. The yellow and orange leaf-like scales on the dark-haired mage’s armor glowed, as she called out a spell, and although Maria’s kick connected, it was just as effective for the goddess as if her kick had been parried with some sort of buckler. Maria was almost confident that, had the shield not been activated, even if Medeia’s armor would have most likely been able to bear the brunt of the attack, the dark angel would have been aware of the fact that allowing any of such more attacks to land would probably not be in her best interests. Still, the fact that Medeia had been able to stop her counterattack meant that she had to put in more effort if she wanted to get the dark mage on the ropes. Presently, the goal was to attempt to make Medeia lose interest in the cathedral due to the amount of effort it was taking to possess it, and so far the Warlord had not seemed to have any reason to want to leave.

The goddess raised an eyebrow at Medeia’s interest in watching her dance. ”Oh?” she replied. ”Well, pleased as I am at your interest in watching me dance, I do not believe I have any interest in entertaining anyone in any way, not to talk of dancing. But I’m sure Nita does enjoy dancing. Word has it that she might know some styles that are… for lack of a better term, barely legal. Good luck getting her to show you her dance moves though.” Maria was simply just jousting verbally with Medeia, as well as trying to get Nita riled up. She could sense the Pergrandian’s own consciousness stirring, but she was sure it would be a bit of time before Nita chose to regain control over her body. This was sort of her playful revenge on her host for running off and leaving her to deal with the uncomfortable things, even if it had not been Nita’s intention to do so. Most times, it was in moments of strong emotional, or perhaps physical, duress, that Maria was able to take control. And even though she was supposed to be on the same side as the Pergrandian maiden, perhaps Maria and Medeia shared a similar opinion: that harrying the girl was fun. Still, Maria was defensive of Nita, in her own way, and preferred to be the one doing the exasperation.

Maria withdrew her leg, just as Medeia swatted at it, as she righted herself to see another attack coming from the thin flower blade. It was almost definitely still possessing the anti-piercing enchantment, which meant that trying to block it with a shield would be a problematic maneuver. And yet, being the sort of person that Maria was, a plan quickly formed in her mind that would normally not be expected to be carried out, unless the executrix of the plan was either mad, or devious. Maria was more of the latter, but sometimes, one appeared mad when indeed they were anything but. ”Hard Head!” the goddess intoned, as her shield darted in front of her as if on its own accord, even as the eyes on the shield began to glow. Still, Maria did not place her body behind the shield as though expecting the shield to take the attack coming for her; it was more accurate to say that she dodged Medeia’s attack, but set her shield such that the dark angel’s sword would come in contact with the shield, moving in such a way that it would appear as though she seemed about to block out of reflex, and then dodged at the last instant, although the sword had touched her shield before she evaded the attack. But it would be when the sword touched the shield that her true plan would be revealed.

If Medeia’s sword came in contact with the shield, the glowing eyes on the shield would project beams of light at the dark angel. Closer proximity meant it might be more difficult to evade the beams, but Maria knew that Medeia was not the sort of person that one would expect to be caught so absolutely by surprise that managing to avoid her carefully set trap would not be a possibility. The beams were harmless, technically, but it was their potential ability to immobilize anyone they touched that was the danger of that ability. But whether Medeia managed to avoid the petrifying beams or not, Maria was not simply going to let that moment of battle pass without trying to press her advantage. A black card appeared in her hand, as Maria said, ”Wild Card: Quadrille!” She did not even bother throwing the card, as it exploded into a pulse of bright light, seeking to engulf the dark angel in its luminescent blast radius.


WC: 1060
TWC: 21526

Another smile crossed the angel’s features as Maria playfully countered her comment about dancing. If her words were true then Medeia would most certainly have to pursue and persuade Nita into showing off her more risque move. She briefly pondered if that could be an avenue to consider in order to stop the fight, as the raven haired woman already knew from experience that at least Nita was open to alternatives. Somehow, she doubted that Maria was the same in that regard but that was fine too. This persona was far more feisty and Medeia would most definitely appreciate that. The Warlord was as fond of Maria as she was Nita and regardless of who held the reins, so to speak, the dark mage would make the most of the opportunities presented to her. They were both so adorable and ever since their first meeting in that park, it was rare that they were not far from the Guildmaster’s thoughts although more often than not, such thoughts were rather perverse but what more could be expected from a creature who used lust as a moniker?

“I will make sure to ask her about those moves the next time she is in control.” She answered with a chuckle, managing to remain playful even mid battle.

Maria’s reflexes were as quick as ever and her leg easily evaded the Warlord’s swatting. It was to be expected and frankly, Medeia would have been disappointed if her opponent had not avoided such a simple manoeuvre. Her foe moved with such grace and the eyes of the dark mage briefly followed the blonde’s beautiful body as it moved. Oh, how she would much rather be rolling around with her under the sheets but such was life and Medeia would have to make do with simply exchanging spells. Who knew? Maybe she would be able to steal that much desired kiss later

What did surprise her was the fact that Maria brought her shield up to seemingly block Medeia’s sword strike. A rather futile move, given the armour piercing effects of her sword and that rather quickly aroused the witch’s suspicions. Something was up but time was short and her sword did end up clipping the shield of her opponent. Yet, her attack was neither negated nor reflected and instead her blade almost seemed to slide off of it. The reason behind the legal mage’s move soon became known though, as a pair of beams left the shield and towards her. The raven haired woman was not going to simply allow them to strike and so when the beams hit her armour, they would simply vanish, negated by the defensive capabilities of her ‘Enchanted Guardian’ spell. It would cost some extra mana but the witch was a monster in that regard and had more than enough to negate a few spells.

That, however, was not the end of Maria’s attack and the dark mage soon noticed the black card in her hand. It was giving off a fair amount of magical energy and the angel did not need to be a genius to tell what was going to happen next. There was nothing else for her to do except simply tank the damage. It was a rather reckless attack on Maria’s part but the angel should probably not have been surprised. The card would explode in a powerful pulse of energy that would clatter against her powerful defensive spell. The card’s impact was strong indeed but Medeia’s spell durability was incredibly high in return.

Watching from her spot, Armina’s eyes would turn into saucers as she watched the blast engulf both women. She did not shout out but as the cathedral briefly trembled, her hands tightened slightly out of nervousness for her Mistress’s health. Yes, she knew that her dark haired partner was the strongest dark mage alive but still, the purple haired mage could not help but worry just a little. Even though not in the blast, she could feel the magical power behind the attack and it was one that could no doubt deal a grave amount of damage to those hit full on. She was confident though that Medeia would not allow that to happen.

When the blast faded away, Medeia would emerge, her body appearing to be unscathed but her armour would definitely look a little worse for wear, with some of the leaves having been burnt away. That had been a close one and the witch rose an eyebrow as she viewed her opponent. “You and Nita have certainly been training since we last met. Your magical power has increased a great deal. Colour me impressed, Maria.” It might have seemed that she was mocking the blonde but that was not actually the case. She was genuinely complimenting her although she could not help but add shortly afterwards. “I suppose that I am going to have to create some brand new magical restraints to keep you in check for the next time I have you at my mercy.”

Tapping into the powers of her armour once again Medeia would then cast her next spell, aware of the possible damage that it could do to the cathedral. “Equinox Wave.” The dark haired mage stated, resulting in a large amount of razor sharp autumn leaves to start flying around from her position, before taking on a cyclone form and bursting out towards Maria. The leaves were certainly not pleasant and should the blonde be struck by them, not only would she be briefly immobilised but be drained of some of her health and mana, as well as lower her spell damage.

For now, she was simply using the spells from her equipment rather than her own natural ones but she had plenty of abilities to use on the blonde when the time came. Some old and some brand new. As it was, she was simply content with continuing to test her foe for the time being and the look on her face still did not show any real killing intent. It was a game to her.

(1013 Words)
(22539 TWC)

Maria was sure that her opponent would be interested in seeing the blonde Pergrandian dance. She was also sure that Nita would not be particularly pleased that she had only served to make the dark angel more interested in her. Unfortunately, the goddess did not particularly care. That would be Nita’s concern to deal with, not Maria’s. But Maria was also sure that presently, her host would not be willing to handle this present situation with Medeia. That would provide her more opportunity to remain in control for a bit longer. ”Oh yes, it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye, or an arm,” Maria heard her host’s voice complain testily in her mind. ”What on earth do you have to benefit by making Medeia more interested in getting her perverted hands on me?”

”Well, I was simply stating a fact,” Maria replied bemusedly. ”Whichever the case, since you’ve finally decided to wake up, would you like to take the reins once more?” There was a bit of silence, then Nita sighed. ”Fine, stay out longer for a while. Just clean up the mess you made, alright? I’m not interested in spending my night as the guest of the Warlord of Lust, an occasion made all the less savory with the understanding that Armina is also going to be present. Frankly, I don’t know who is worse between the two.” If there would be anything that would console Nita, it was the fact that Maria did not consider it advantageous in any way if Medeia came out the victor in this encounter. Although Nita was convinced that the goddess would not permit harm to come to her host, if she could help it, the Pergrandian could not say for certain that Maria would not intentionally get her into an uncomfortable situation, just to see how she responded to it. But since Maria had confessed earlier that she had a reputation to defend, Nita was sure that the goddess would do her best not to come out at the bottom of the situation.

It appeared that the beams from the Pegasus shield were dispelled somehow, for they simply vanished without yielding any effect. A negation spell, no doubt. But Maria had expected that things would not go as easily as she wanted; after all, she was facing off against the strongest dark mage in Fiore on record. Who knew whether Medeia didn’t hold that record for the whole of Ishgar? Which was why she had prepared her Quadrille spell. While the spell’s damaging power was quite potent, Maria had chosen this spell, because it was the less destructive of her ‘exploding card’ spells. It dealt minimal damage to the environment, but was not as gentle on targets designated as enemies by the blonde mage. Still, it seemed more would be needed to really do some notable damage to the dark angel, as she emerged from the blast relatively unscathed, though it did seem as though her armor had taken a bit of a beating due to the spell. Medeia commented positively on the improvement of her rival, and though her tone was still full of levity, the goddess could sense the undercurrent of acknowledgment in it. It was pleasant to hear, for two reasons. Firstly, who didn’t like being applauded? In that regard, Maria admitted she was not too different from Nita; they both did enjoy being commended. Secondly, Medeia’s observation lent credence to the fact that Maria had made good on her word to Nita back in Crocus that both of them working together would be advantageous for them. The goddess curtseyed, as she replied, ”I do believe I mentioned earlier that it is my intention to please. As for the magical restraints, I’d rather not be subjecting myself to them, thank you very much. I do not take very nicely to being at anybody’s mercy.” That last sentence was made with a rather imperial tone.

But Medeia was only beginning to show why the entire nation and beyond feared her. As the goddess saw the cyclone of leaves, she immediately realized that it was quite a dangerous spell that would be marshaled against her, and was desirous to not be struck by the flying leaves. She was sure that, all risks to her health aside, her clothes would not be in anything close to a reasonable state, if she took the brunt of the spell. It was very likely that Medeia would not mind that, though. In any event, this revelation of such a powerful spell displeased Maria. She suspected that Medeia had not even started rallying her full strength against her opponent, and here Maria was, relying on one of her strongest spells in order to cope. What would happen if Medeia went all out? Well, there was a part of Maria that wanted to find out. ”Orison of Preservation: Sanctuary!” The goddess held out both hands, as she channeled divine energy, the result being a bright blue shield that sprang into place, just as the cyclone of magic leaves was unleashed at her. As the spells collided, rather than stay behind her shield and weather the onslaught of the Equinox Wave, Maria launched another offensive. Using one of the effects of her Sanctuary spell, Maria teleported from her present position, to appear behind Medeia. The hope was that with the clashing of her Sanctuary shield and the Equinox Wave, there would be a bit of distraction due to the spells clashing, and the lights and noise thereof. Whichever the case, while that was happening, she would be trying her hand at putting her opponent in a fix.

It was likely that Medeia would sense her as she appeared behind the dark angel, but it mattered little. A rather devious plan had formed in her mind, one that was not expected to be utilized by the ‘good guys’. As the goddess materialized, her hand was already outstretched, and her open palm pointing at Medeia. ”Relativity God Cannon!” As she fired the high-speed plasma ball from her hand, Maria had made sure that she had angled her own body such that she had lined both Medeia and Armina up when she took the shot. Just in case the dark angel decided to dodge. Yes, she knew it would annoy the dark angel, but they weren’t really friends.


WC: 1060
TWC: 23599

“You know what? Quite a few have said that to me in the past. They speak about how much they despise being helpless but in the end it matters not. Sooner or later, something snaps in their mind and they realise that there is pleasure to be found from the whole experience. Had Nita not been so eager to break free, the last time that we met, she might have started to feel that way herself. Such a pity that she was able to manipulate Maxima into letting her go.” Medeia answered casually, not sounding in the slightest bit guilty or ashamed of her own part in the whole affair. “I promise you that it will not quite be so easy the next time as I will make sure that my eyes and hands are constantly on you. Not just mine either, knowing how eager Armina is to become more acquainted with your lovely form too. It does not matter which of you are in control, the situation will be the same although a part of me hopes it is you, seeing as how aggressive you are. Toying around with such a free spirit such as yourself would be a fun time for certain.”

Every word she spoke sounded as though it was guaranteed to happen, without the slightest sliver of doubt in the dark angel’s voice. Her confidence had reached a level where she believed that failure was something that she had evolved beyond. It was such an illuminating feeling, to know that she could walk across this world and do whatever she damn well pleased. Just the mention of her name was enough to paralyse those she met and one touch of her magical power could turn a mortal into a bloody stain. There was of course the inevitable downside that all of her fights now mostly ended in a moment and that was rather frustrating. It was a rarity that she could go all out and even she did not know the full potential of her most powerful spells just yet. She had killed hundreds in the Bellum and Pergrande conflict but even then she did not feel as though that was her limit. Just what could she accomplish in her newest takeover form, a form that she had only used for the first time during the war. A form that was in truth, beyond that of other magics of the type. A spell that brought herself and Priya closer than ever before. She had no real intention of using it against Maria today but if the blonde kept growing in strength? Well, perhaps there would be a day where she would have no other choice.

Maria handled Medeia’s Equinox Wave rather well and the dark haired raised an eyebrow as the blonde’s shield met her attack. A blast of two magical forces which briefly resulted in her losing sight of her opponent for a moment. In the end though, it was her slayer senses that saved her and she turned on her heel to find herself face to face with the legal mage now standing behind her. “Your lovely perfume gave you away.” She said with a smile, her purple eyed gaze focusing upon her foe once again. Both mages had now gone down the attacking route from behind, a fact which brought a slight smirk to Medeia’s face. It was indeed a classic trick and one that Medeia loved to play herself. Seeing the surprised look on her opponent's face always caused her to smile.

The legal mage was quick to attack once again, creating a ball of plasma energy that Medeia assumed would be flying towards her before long. At first, she intended to simply evade the blow but there was a sudden pang in the pit of her stomach that caused her to think of an alternative. There was a mortal expression about going with one’s gut and just this once, the raven haired woman decided to go with it. Instead of dodging, she would tap into the powers of her Enchanted Guardian ability again although instead of negating the attack, the Warlord would instead reflect it back towards her opponent, resulting in the plasma heading back towards its source.

It was only then that she realised why she had felt that pain in her stomach.

“She was aiming for me, Mistress! The bitch was trying to hit me!”

There was a sudden tilt of the Warlord’s head at that point and her eyes seemed to briefly gloss over, a sudden well of fury beginning to very swiftly build within her. Her hand would then move towards a particularly ominous tome that had a foul torrent of darkness surrounding it. The item that she had earned for becoming a Warlord and a book that had been written by the foulest hands. She had actually used it the last time that the dark mage had encountered the blonde although it had obviously been weaker then. Now, it had reached the pinnacle of its powers and it soon took a life of its own, rising into the air before the dark mage, more and more magical energy beginning to swirl around it as it did so.

“Armina!” Medeia commanded, her tone far harsher than normal. “Retreat now!”

The purple haired woman would not need to be told twice and after making a rather unmaidlike and rude gesture towards Maria, she would say spitefully before snapping her fingers and disappearing. “I look forward to teaching you some manners myself sometime, Whore.”

With the busty maid gone, only the two powerful mages remained and as Medeia uttered the words of the spell, her book would open fully and unleash an incredibly powerful beam of darkness. Beyond the immense damage that it could cause to not only Maria but the cathedral and anyone else who might still be hanging around, it was also capable of immobilising any target struck as well. It was most certainly up there when it came to Medeia’s strongest spell, fuelled by her sudden anger, which had all been ignited by the simple act of threatening her maid.

“Biased Judgement.”

(1026 Words)
(24625 TWC)

As expected, Medeia’s incredible senses made it rather difficult for the blonde mage to catch her unawares. But Maria had suspected that such a thing would happen. Which was why she had prepared the Relativity God Cannon with which to make her attack, as the spell had both speed and range among its good notes. And even then, the goddess was quite expectant that this would hardly be considered a challenge for the dark angel. Putting Armina in the line of fire was just an extra trap designed for if her opponent chose to dodge the attack. That, and also to test a hypothesis which had been forming in her mind for a while now. Things did not particularly turn out as Maria had wanted, though. The ball of plasma seemed to bounce off Medeia’s armor, and came the same way it had originally traversed, turned against its own creator. An interesting choice of tactics, if Maria would say so herself. Not only did it negate her prepared trap, it also resulted in the goddess finding herself on the receiving end of her own stratagem. While as a God Slayer, she was resistant to plasma, it was certain that the spell would still damage her, and Maria was eager to take as little damage as possible if she could help it, at least for as long as she had no idea as to how long this battle was going to be.

Fortunately for her, she was still under the effects of her Sanctuary spell, so as the bright ball of plasma hurtled back at her, she held up her hand, and the spell vanished as she exorcised it, negating the projectile before it reached her. As expected, Armina was livid, but it was not getting on Armina’s nerves that Maria had wanted to accomplish; it was getting on the nerves of her mistress. And it seemed as though the goddess had managed to succeed. While having an angry Medeia was a serious issue, the knowledge that she had found something that she could use to get Medeia angry seemed to be a rewarding thing of itself, as far as Maria was concerned. The goddess was however at a loss as to what to do with this tidbit of knowledge. Perhaps one day, she would figure out a way to utilize this to her advantage. For now, establishing the veracity of her hypothesis was enough. But if Maria considered this discovery to be some sort of victory, Nita was quite otherwise convinced.

”Maria, are you mad?!” the Pergrandian screamed from within the recesses of her own body, an outburst only Maria could hear. ”How does annoying Medeia help us in any way? If you didn’t know, I was hoping that the best case scenario to the ending of today’s altercation would be the cathedral taking minimal damage, no more deaths, and both of us escaping with our dignity intact. Now you’ve angered her, I don’t know how feasible the last objective is, but Objectives 1 and 2 are looking next to impossible now.” Maria sighed. ”In case you did not notice, you silly girl, when you stand facing the Warlord of Lust, you aren’t facing a friend.” Nita tried to protest, but Maria shushed her. ”Yes, I know, you’re thinking I’m so wrong to assume that you and Medeia could possibly be friends. But even if you don’t think so, Medeia thinks of you no more than a toy. A plaything. And you may be fine with it, but I find it insulting. Even if Medeia is stronger than we are, I want her to realize, whenever she comes face to face with me, that even if she’s going to play, I’m going to be trying as much as possible to ensure that she doesn’t enjoy herself while she’s at it. And I know, you’re asking, what if we lose, and that pervert gets her hands on us? Well, that’s a risk you were willing to take ever since you decided you wanted to become a hero. Being a hero is about shouldering the responsibility of saving people, and if we fail in that, perhaps we may settle for punishing the evildoers. That Medeia considers your meetings with her pleasant is ridiculous. A hero should not make meeting a villain pleasant. Now, dearest Nita, sulk along, there’s a good girl, while I teach you the meaning of how to be a hero.”

All Medeia’s levity had vanished in a jiffy, and she had ordered her maid to leave. Armina had been not too polite with her parting, causing Maria to huff in displeasure. ”How indelicate! That maid needs a good bit of smacking, she does.” But the goddess’ eyes were on the dark angel’s evil-looking tome, as the latter chanted dark incantations, in preparation to unleash a dark spell. Wait, wasn’t that the same thing she had used to one-shot Nita back in Rose Garden with the two luchadora miscreants? Looked like the kid gloves were off. Playtime was over, and Maria decided at this point that the point of fighting carefully was past. It was time to throw it all in. For a brief moment, it would seem as though the goddess’ body was beginning to absorb light, then a strange shimmering aura exploded outward temporarily before wrapping around her beautiful form. One moment it seemed a living cloak of darkness, the next it was fire and strange lights, with leaves and weird weaves swirling together and coming apart, as the cadence seemed to repeat itself at one point and rewind in the next. Maria had entered God Force. The last time Nita had faced this spell, she had failed to defend against it. This time, Maria hoped to succeed. She had never used this spell before, but now was probably as good a time as any to discover just how powerful Arcanos’ favor was. She lifted her head and held out her hands, as though she was welcoming the dismal onslaught of darkness that had been unleashed at her.

”Against darkness rallies the light! Orison of Victory: Resplendence of Dawn!!”

A stream of scintillating light poured out from her, meeting the wave of darkness head-on, and stopping it as it advanced. And even then, the light weaved around the cathedral, seeking to engulf everyone and everything within its luminous domain. If Medeia came in contact with it, she would discover herself set on fire in many colors, as she lost vital energy to the purging power of the light.


WC: 1090
TWC: 25715

Light met darkness in a mighty collision that most likely would have severely harmed anyone who was close. It was a testament to Maria’s power that she was able to shut out as much of Medeia’s attack as she did. The last time, it had indeed dealt a great deal of damage to the blonde and had left her helpless before the dark mage, much to the delight of the witch. This time, however, it was apparent that the result would be different. The raven haired woman would have to try harder to defeat her foe and perhaps unleash some new attacks. That was acceptable to the angel and given the anger that was pulsing through her veins, she was certainly not lacking when it came to killing intent or perhaps a better expression considering who she was fighting would be, wishing to teach a lesson. She had been playful up until that point but now? That was simply not the case. For Maria to direct her attacks towards Armina when Medeia herself was there was simply unacceptable to her. The purple haired woman was under her protection.

She sensed something during the clash, an uptick in Maria’s magical aura that most certainly caught her attention. This sensation was rather familiar to the dark haired angel and one that she was capable of unleashing herself. Force, a special ability that all slayers were capable of accessing if the right conditions were met. Since Maria had not devoured anything so far, Medeia was able to come to the conclusion that her foe was not a first or second generation. She was either a third or a hybrid like the Warlord herself. Medeia would have to admit that she was curious, as she could not remember the blonde having used slayer abilities in the past although in fairness, she had only seen a few of the legal mage’s spells during their previous encounters. What Medeia did know all too well about though was the boost in power that Maria would have while in that state. It was not to be underestimated and Medeia knew that even she would have to be a little more cautious now. There was of course the incredible weakness of Force, being that one could only remain in it for so long before their mana was completely drained away. If she played a longer game, the angel could probably win because of that weakness alone. Should she simply try and wear Maria down? That was the question.

A significant part of her mind was against that idea, the side that was infuriated with the blonde for daring to strike at Armina in her presence, despite her warnings. Anger was one of the Warlord’s slayer elements and although she could feed on her own, it did give her an incredible understanding of the emotion. It was a weapon of its own, one that if used correctly could give a mage immense power. Was it dangerous? Oh yes. To be overcome by rage could lead one to destruction and Medeia had used enough of her anger based spells on others to see the effects of that. She had been able to manipulate others with it, to turn their swords on their friends and family, out of sheer wrath. It always gave her such a buzz when she watched such scenes, knowing that she was the one who had pulled the strings. That feeling never lessened, no matter how many victims she had manipulated. What her aggressive side wanted to achieve now though was not manipulation. She wanted to walk out of the cathedral and burn every man, woman and child. It could be easily done with just one spell. Such was the magnitude of her strongest spells. The act itself would bring her pleasure but what would bring her even more? The knowledge that it would hurt Nita, perhaps not Maria, unknowing as to her true nature but to her host? Definitely. Medeia knew that much about the blonde from their previous meetings.

Uncertain as to the effects of Maria’s latest spell, Medeia decided to take the prudent option of not trying to bash through it by force. Instead she took the opportunity to teleport away again, vanishing into sand briefly and allowing her to reform. Where? Well, outside the cathedral gates of course. She would allow Maria to push her out of the old and ancient building for now but was that truly a benefit? Now Medeia had all of the Cedar locals to go after and no reason to hold back. The cathedral would be waiting for her once she had unleashed her anger and that was one of the elements that she tapped into, as she unleashed her next spell.

“Blood Clones Of The Betrayed.” She uttered, her voice fuelled by cold fury.

It was not a pretty spell on the eyes, as 18 clones of the witch began to emerge, covered in blood and each holding a blade. Each would share the look in the mage’s eyes and without mercy or restraint, they would start to sprint away from the mage, each one homing in on the nearest targets to them. One would obviously head towards Maria, assuming that she had followed Medeia out. The others? Well, they would go after the innocents of the town. A fusion spell of two of her weaker techniques, the now more potent ability had some rather nasty effects. Should they reach either the end of their range or when they reached a target, they would explode, poisoning their victim and draining them of both HP and MP, restoring Medeia’s own abilities. Those who survived would also be overcome by rage and forced to lunge at their own allies with whatever they could find. No, it was not a pretty spell at all.

The gloves were most definitely off now and no one in the town of Cedar was safe from the vengeful Warlord. She would kill every being in this godforsaken town and would sleep quite soundly after doing so.

(1011 Words)
(26726 TWC)